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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines, by 
+Robert Mac Micking
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines
+       During 1848, 1849 and 1850
+
+Author: Robert Mac Micking
+
+Release Date: December 26, 2006 [EBook #20189]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS OF MANILLA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Clare Boothby, Jeroen Hellingman and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         RECOLLECTIONS
+
+                               OF
+
+                  MANILLA AND THE PHILIPPINES,
+
+                  DURING 1848, 1849, AND 1850.
+
+
+
+
+                               BY
+
+                    ROBERT MAC MICKING, ESQ.
+
+
+
+
+                            LONDON:
+            RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
+             Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
+
+                             1851.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+The Philippines, in many respects situated most advantageously
+for trade, having long been governed by a people whose notions of
+government and political economy have never produced the happiest
+results in any of their once numerous and important colonies, appear
+at last to be slowly reaping the benefit of the new commercial maxims
+now in course of operation, in Spain, and show symptoms of progressing
+with increased speed in the march of civilization, encouraged by
+commerce. As such a state is always interesting, more especially to
+my countrymen, whose commercial and manufacturing welfare is closely
+bound up with the rate at which civilization advances in every part
+of the world, I have attempted to give some idea of the actual state
+and prospects of this valuable colony, as they appeared to me during a
+residence there of the three years 1848-9-50, with the double object
+of directing more attention to these islands than has hitherto been
+paid to them by our merchants and manufacturers, and of deriving
+some employment in doing so, during a tedious voyage from Singapore
+to Hongkong, when, being in a great measure debarred from personal
+activity, an interesting occupation was felt to be more than usually
+necessary to engage the mind.
+
+There are many imperfections in the execution of my task; but for these
+the critical reader is requested to make some allowance, and entreated
+not to forget the inconveniences all landsmen are subjected to at sea.
+
+                                                    September, 1851.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         RECOLLECTIONS
+
+                               OF
+
+                  MANILLA AND THE PHILIPPINES.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+About the time the Spanish arms under Hernan Cortez, Pizarro, and
+Almagro, were meeting with their most splendid successes in America,
+the thought occurred to Hernando Magallanes, a Portuguese gentleman
+in the service of King Charles the Fifth of Spain, that if by sailing
+south he could pass the new Western World, it would be possible to
+reach the famous Spice Islands of the East, which he supposed to
+contain untold-of wealth in their bosoms. This vast, and, in the
+state of their knowledge at the time, apparently hardy and even rash
+idea, met with approval by the King, who honoured Magallanes with
+the distinguished military order of Santiago, and appointed him to
+the command of a squadron which he immediately set about fitting out
+to accomplish the project, with the view of conquering and annexing
+these islands to his crown.
+
+At length, when all the preparations were completed, on the 10th of
+August, 1519, six ships, no one of which exceeded 130 tons, and some
+of them being less than half that size, sailed from the port of San
+Lucan de Barrameda on this bold and perilous enterprise.
+
+In the prosecution of their voyage, many obstacles were encountered;
+but everything disappeared before the ardour of their chief,
+who, discovering, passed through the Straits of Magellan, which
+alone immortalize his name, and spreading his sails to the gale,
+stood boldly with his squadron, now reduced to three crazy vessels,
+into the unknown and vast ocean which lay open before him, with all
+the hardihood characteristic of his time, traversing in its utmost
+breadth the Pacific, without, however, chancing to meet with any of
+the numerous islands now scattered throughout its extent. At last,
+the Mariana or Ladrone Islands were descried on the 16th of August,
+1521, and a few days afterwards a cape on the east coast of Mindanao
+was seen.
+
+Coasting along the shores of Caraga, the ships anchored off Limasna,
+where Magallanes was well received by the natives of the place;
+from thence steering towards Cebu, he managed to establish a good
+understanding with the country people, although upwards of two
+thousand of them had assembled, armed with spears and javelins,
+to oppose his landing.
+
+Having constructed a house at this place, in order that mass might
+be decently said, he landed to hear it, accompanied by his crews.
+
+The royal family of Cebu, curious to observe the manners of their
+strange visitors, attended its celebration, and, as the story
+goes, were so much edified by the sight, that they were baptized
+Christians, and an oath of allegiance and vassalage to the King of
+Spain administered to them; and their example being followed to a
+great extent by the nobles and people of Cebu, the Christian forms
+of faith and the symbolic cross were planted by the Spaniards in the
+country of the antipodes.
+
+Some time afterwards, Magallanes met the end which best becomes a
+brave and good soldier, by dying in the battle-field in the cause of
+his new friends and allies.
+
+But without his master-mind to direct them, things no longer went
+on so smoothly between the Spaniards and the natives; and under his
+successor, the hostile feelings then given birth to, soon found a
+tragical vent, which resulted in a number of the white men being
+cruelly massacred by their Indian hosts, and in the flight of
+their companions, who, fearful of their own safety, made all sail
+on their ships, and bore away, leaving their unfortunate countrymen
+to their fate, without attempting and even refusing to ransom such
+of them whose lives were spared, from having been less obnoxious to
+the Indians than the others. This fatal accident left the surviving
+crews so much weakened in numerical strength, that not having men
+enough left to work all the ships, the "Concepcion" was set fire to,
+and the survivors steered towards the Moluccas.
+
+It were tedious to follow them through all their adventures; suffice
+it to say, that Juan Sebastian de El Cano was the only captain who
+succeeded in taking his ship home again round the Cape of Good
+Hope. After many anxieties and vicissitudes he entered the same
+port of San Lucar from which he had sailed about three years before;
+and as a memento of his skill and of his being the first navigator
+who had made the circuit of the world, the king granted him for an
+armorial bearing, a globe, with the legend, "Primus circumdedit me,"
+which he had thus so honourably gained.
+
+At intervals of about four years between each other, three separate
+expeditions were fitted out from Spain and America for these islands,
+which were named "_Las Felipiñas_" by Villalobos, commander of the
+last of these squadrons, in honour of the then Prince of Asturias,
+afterwards better known as King Philip the Second of Spain.
+
+In the meantime the Portuguese, jealous of the vicinity of such
+powerful neighbours as the Spaniards, to their empire of the East
+which Vasco de Gama and Albuquerque had so brilliantly founded
+for their country, took advantage of the financial distress of the
+Spanish king, who was then arming against France and Germany, and
+for an inconsiderable amount purchased his right of conquest over
+all the Philippines.
+
+But they did not long retain them; for on Prince Philip of the Asturias
+becoming King of Spain he regained the islands by breaking through
+the treaty which confirmed their sale. Having, in 1564, appointed
+Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi commander of an expedition fitted out
+for the purpose of reacquiring them, and having made him Governor and
+Adelantado of all the countries he could conquer,--which now-a-days
+appears to be rather a vague commission, but was then a custom of that
+venturous time,--that dignitary reached the Philippines, which had
+been altogether neglected by the Portuguese, and without difficulty
+re-established Spanish supremacy over the group, of which he may be
+considered as the first governor.
+
+Their favorable reception by the natives rendered the acquisition
+altogether, or nearly, a bloodless one, for the warriors who gained
+them over to Spain were not their steel-clad chivalry, but the
+soldiers of the cross:--the priests, who, going out among a simple
+but somewhat passionate people, astonished and kindled them by their
+enthusiasm in the cause of Christ; while the novel doctrines they
+taught so enthusiastically, aided by the usual splendid accompaniments
+of that religion, captivated their senses, and took possession of
+their imaginations.
+
+Manilla was founded on the island of Luzon, the most important
+of all the islands in the group; and the situation of the new
+capital on the shore of a long bay, into which flow numerous rivers,
+bringing down from the interior of a fertile country through which
+they run, its varied and valuable produce, has secured for it
+prosperity and commercial importance. A trade with China sprang up,
+and its commencement was soon followed by many emigrants from that
+densely-peopled country, whose habits of industry and prudence very
+soon began to increase and develope the natural fertility of the soil,
+and whose numerous descendants have mingled with the native character
+some of those useful virtues which it seems scarcely probable they
+would possess but for this slight mixture of blood.
+
+Alas, that priestly ambition and the desire of domination should
+in time usurp the place of those laborious, enthusiastic, and
+pious missionaries who, so happily for the natives, had managed
+to revolutionize their minds, and so spared their country those
+scenes of blood which blot with a fearful stain the history
+of Spanish power in America. But the influence of churchmen,
+as usual, in the Philippines, was not always to be well directed;
+for the merciless Inquisition having established itself at Manilla,
+commenced its terrible career. No one was safe, none were exempt
+from its powers; its emissaries penetrated even into the palace of
+the Governor. Moderation in religion, or remissness in its strictest
+observances, became crimes, punishable by the severest discipline of
+that fearful and cruel establishment. All attempts, even when aided
+or directed by the authority and influence of the highest officials,
+to lessen its power, proved unsuccessful; and frequently a _Bishop_
+was chosen to occupy the Governor-general's place, to perform his civil
+and military duties! Everything was in the hands of the churchmen,
+the subsequent effects of which were demonstrated to the world by the
+easy success of the British expedition of 1762, which they permitted
+to enter the bay without opposition, having passed the fortified
+island of Corregidor at its entrance without a shot being fired to
+prevent them. And the same effects caused but a feeble resistance to
+be opposed to their arms, and the speedy surrender of Manilla by its
+priest-ridden and effeminate defenders.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The Government of Spain has, ever since the period of their
+acquisition, shown itself ignorant or neglectful of the commercial
+importance of these islands, the commerce of which has long been
+subjected to regulations and restrictions as injurious in their
+tendency as can well be imagined,--they being framed, apparently at
+least, more for the purpose of smothering it in its earliest existence
+than with any kindly or paternal views of nourishing and increasing it.
+
+But a change having at length once begun, a new era may be said
+to have commenced with regard to them, and it is to be hoped that
+increasing wisdom and liberality of ideas may clear away some of the
+remaining obstacles which for so long encumbered, and even yet impede
+and circumscribe within a very narrow circle, the natural course of
+their commerce. For the Spanish Government are far from following a
+similar policy to that of the great Henry the Fourth of France, who,
+as an encouragement to the manufacturing industry of the country,
+rewarded those silk manufacturers who had carried on business for
+twelve years, with patents of nobility, as men who by doing so not
+only benefited themselves, but deserved well of their country for
+their enterprise and commercial spirit. Don Simon Anda was about
+the first person who showed any desire to augment the trade of the
+islands; and his election to the highest offices of the colony,
+after its restoration by the English, was a most fortunate event for
+Manilla. Although, unluckily, many of the steps he took with the best
+intentions, notwithstanding being infinitely in advance of those of
+his predecessors in office, were not always in the right direction,
+and consequently unattended by the highest degree of success which he
+aimed at, partial good results were obtained by them, and a beneficial
+change began to regulate affairs.
+
+The expulsion of the Jesuits from the Philippines in 1768, by throwing
+their immense estates out of cultivation, and also the wars and
+disturbances subsequent to the French Revolution, being felt even in
+this remote part of the world, were attended with the worst effects
+to the trade and agriculture of the islands. On the peace of 1814,
+the condition of the country was truly deplorable, as, during a
+long period of isolation and inactivity, abuses had multiplied to an
+alarming extent, and the minds of the Indian population especially
+had become divided between superstition and sedition, from each of
+which a sanguinary catastrophe resulted. Public opinion at the time
+fastened on the priests the guilt of the massacre of the Protestant
+foreigners at Manilla in 1820, and the growing discontent of the
+people blew into open rebellion in 1823, under a Creole leader,
+who then rose and attempted to shake off the Spanish authority.
+
+To give the reader some idea of the commercial regulations then
+existing, which helped, no doubt, to bring about these disorders,
+it may be mentioned that among many other things, even after the
+port of Manilla was thrown open to ships of all nations, the vessels
+belonging to that port itself were not allowed to trade with Europe,
+or to proceed beyond the Cape of Good Hope; and Government yet further
+limited their intercourse with the only ports of China and India
+which were open to them, by issuing passes to all colonial ships,
+the conditions of which were perfectly incompatible with the usual
+course of commerce, as they were required to return home directly
+from the port to which they were destined from Manilla, and were not
+at liberty to touch at, or have any intercourse with, other places
+than those specified in their passport.
+
+These absurd restrictions of course prevented a ship from profiting
+by any freight she might be offered at the port of her destination
+from Manilla, because the terms of her pass made it compulsory for
+her to return there before she could accept any new engagement such as
+might be offered her, and of course, in such a case, frequently forced
+them to decline most profitable business; consequently, the colonial
+shipowners found that they had to sail their vessels at a great
+disadvantage with all others who were free from such interference.
+
+Neither was the trade with Spain open to them, for the Trading Company
+numbered among their many other privileges, that of having the sole
+right of placing ships on the berth for the Peninsula.
+
+This state of things actually remained in force till 1820, when a
+royal order confirmed a decree of the Cortes exempting from all duties
+whatever any products of the Philippines which might be imported into
+Spain during the ensuing ten years; and this step may be considered
+as the first evidence of a desire shown by that Government to give
+an impulse to their colonial agriculture or to the manufactures and
+commerce of these splendid islands.
+
+This good work, having once begun, was followed up by the
+enlightened and benevolent government of Don Pascual Enrile, who was
+Captain-General of the Philippines from 1831 to 1835, and whose entire
+administration has left behind it the happiest results for the people
+he governed.
+
+Commencing his reform of the laws relating to navigation by giving
+passes to ships, for the period of two years, without requiring them
+to declare to what place or places they were bound, or might touch
+at during their absence from the port to which they belonged, he
+had an opportunity of satisfying himself of the good results ensuing
+from non-interference; and some time afterwards entirely loosed the
+fetters which burdened them, by giving colonial ships liberty to
+sail wherever they chose without restrictions as to time or place:
+and certainly, his doing so was an honour for the national flag,
+which then waved on every sea. These concessions proved alike wise
+and beneficent; and since the time of their being granted, the tonnage
+and commerce of Manilla has increased in an amazing degree, and still
+goes on prosperously augmenting Her Most Catholic Majesty's treasury,
+besides improving the condition of the people and the agriculture of
+the country.
+
+But this was far from being the only wise act of Governor Enrile,
+for under his administration a boon of even greater importance was
+secured to the country and the people of the colony, by the opening
+of internal communications throughout the Philippines. He established
+a comprehensive system of roads, and organised posts throughout the
+islands. Although most of the roads are now kept in most wretched
+order, yet being nearly always passable by horses, they are found
+to be of the utmost importance to the well-being of the country,
+even as they now exist.
+
+But should a time come when more attention will be bestowed upon them
+than now is, and new ones judiciously constructed in districts where
+they have not yet been, the agriculture of the islands will improve
+to a great degree, and corresponding advantages will follow in its
+train to be reaped by the Government that is enlightened enough to
+undertake them, and which is sensible enough to know what is most for
+its true interests. May that day soon come, for it will be a happy
+one to the Philippines and all belonging to them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+On approaching Manilla from the bay in one of the bancas--or canoes
+having a cover as a protection against the sun--which generally go off
+to all ships after their anchor has been let go, and the port-captain's
+boat has boarded the new arrival, the spires, towers of churches,
+and lofty red-tiled roofs of houses or convents are all that can be
+seen over the walls, so that the first impressions of a stranger are
+not in general very vivid or interesting.
+
+On reaching the múrallon, your banca enters the waters of the Pasig
+river, prolonged by two piers into the bay, on the extreme point
+of one of which is situated a small fort garrisoned by a company
+of soldiers, and on the other the lighthouse, a most insignificant
+and nearly useless building. Passing these, the boatmen pull up the
+river to the garrita, a small round house, where the banca is viséd
+by the people of the gun-boats, at all times stationed there for
+that purpose, and should there be any packages or baggage in it,
+the port-captain's deputy, or aide-de-camp, puts a guard on board,
+who conducts you to the custom-house for the purpose of having it
+inspected there; but the examination is generally not a very minute
+one, and personal effects are for the most part passed merely by
+opening the boxes and showing the tops of their contents, although
+you may be asked whether it contains either pocket-pistols or a bible,
+both of which are prohibited and seizable.
+
+The city of Manilla, ever since its foundation, which took place at
+a very early period of the Spanish power in Luzon, from the natural
+advantages combined in its situation--so judiciously chosen by
+them--continued to be the capital of the Philippines, whose history
+ever since may be said to have centered in the transactions which at
+various times have taken place under the shadow of its walls.
+
+It is built at the mouth of the river Pasig, on the low-lying and
+sandy point formed by its junctions with the waters of the bay,
+between which and the ditch that surrounds the walls on the seaward
+side, a level sward stretches along the beach.
+
+An Englishman, on arriving, perceives a marked difference between
+the place and people and any of his country's Indian possessions; the
+air he breathes, and the habits he gradually falls into from seeing
+them the customary ones of other people, are not the same as those
+of his countrymen in British India. Should he be fortunate enough to
+have arrived towards the end of the year, in addition to the greater
+coolness of the weather then usually prevalent, and so delightful in
+the tropics, he will most probably not want opportunities for enjoying
+himself; as, after suffering a penitential confinement to the house
+during the long rainy season, for some time before Christmas, the
+cool nights and other circumstances induce the residents to break out
+into greater gaiety than is prevalent at other seasons of the year;
+and amusement, about that time, generally appears to be the order of
+the day.
+
+The city is not unworthy of a curiosity seeker's visit. The town,
+within the fortifications, although not of great size, is for the
+most part well planned, the streets being straight, regular, and some
+of them kept clean and in good order, although many of the smaller
+ones are allowed to fall into great disrepair. They are too narrow,
+moreover, for the heat of the climate, as the confined air and stench
+frequently existing in them, are principally generated by their
+closeness, and more especially during the cool of the evening and
+early morning, are far from conducing to the health of the population.
+
+The latitude of the citadel, or Fuerza de Santiago, is 14° 36' N.,
+longitude 127° 15' E. of Cadiz, or in latitude 14° 36' 8'' N., and
+longitude 120° 53 1/2' E. of Greenwich.
+
+The fortifications surrounding the town are regular, and apparently
+strong, defences; but although the walls and ditch look formidable
+enough in themselves, the want of sufficient good artillery to
+protect them would probably be felt in the event of an assault,
+and might render the place not a very difficult prize to a large
+attacking force. But no invader need now-a-days expect to meet with
+such very easy success as attended our expedition last century,
+at a time when weak and priestly notions not only ruled the church,
+but governed the people and the camp.
+
+Very different feelings and modes of action are now prevalent among
+the white population, from those then in operation among them.
+
+For some years past the influx of fresh blood from Europe has been
+very much greater than in former times, the consequence of which
+is that a change is creeping over the place, from the energy and
+enterprize of the new comers.
+
+There is little doubt but that all this is for the best, and in the
+course of a few years more, I hope to hear that the Government,
+increasing in liberality and wisdom, will allow the natural
+capabilities of the Philippines to be developed, and their importance
+appreciated, by permitting foreigners to hold land and become planters,
+as without their capital and knowledge it will probably be a long
+time before the Spaniards of themselves attain these ends in the like
+perfection; such measures would ensure their doing so at once.
+
+By far the most populous and important part of the town of Manilla
+is situated without the walls, and on the other side of the river
+from the fortified city, the intermediate communication being by a
+handsome bridge, one of the eight arches of which, having given way
+to the shock of an earthquake, has not been rebuilt, but is replaced
+by wood. It has been proposed to construct a drawbridge at this point,
+so as to allow the colonial shipping to proceed up the river above the
+bridge, which they cannot now do. And should the project be carried
+into effect, it is likely that the small sized coasting vessels,
+when nothing better offers for them to do, will go on to the Laguna,
+and supersede the clumsy _cascos_ which now solely navigate the lake
+and bring down the produce of the fruitful country which surrounds it,
+to dispose of in the market of Manilla.
+
+Without the walls nearly all the trade is carried on, the Escolta
+and Rosario, on that side of the river, being the principal streets,
+built however without any regard to regularity, so that they are
+not handsome, but in them nearly all the best Chinamen's shops are
+situated. These are in general very small confined places, though
+crammed with manufactures, the produce of Manchester, Glasgow,
+Birmingham, and of many other European and Chinese manufacturing
+marts. Some of the shops may also be seen stuffed to the door with the
+valuable Piña cloth, husè, and other productions of the native looms.
+
+The great object of the Chinese shopmen appears to be, to show the
+most varied, and frequently miscellaneous, collection of goods in the
+smallest possible space; as, their shops being for the most part not
+more than ten feet broad towards the street, leaves but little space
+besides the doorway to display the attractions of their wares, and
+every inch has to be made the most of by them. These China shopkeepers
+have nearly driven all competition, except with each other out of the
+market,--very few Mestizos or Spaniards being able to live on the
+small profits which the competition among themselves has reduced
+them to. A China shopkeeper generally makes his shop his home,
+all of them sleeping in those confined dens at night, from which,
+on opening their doors about five in the morning, as they usually do,
+a most noisome and pestiferous smell issues and is diffused through
+the streets. The Mestizos cannot do this, but must have a house to
+live in out of the profits of the shop; and the consequence has been,
+that when their shopkeeping profits could no longer do that, they have
+nearly all betaken themselves to other more suitable occupations, from
+which the energies of their Chinese rivals are less likely to drive
+them. The number of Chinamen in Manilla and throughout the islands
+is very great, and nearly the whole provincial trade in manufactured
+goods is in their hands. Numerous traders of that nation have shops
+opened throughout the islands, their business being carried on by
+one of their own countrymen, generally the principal person of the
+concern, who remains resident at Manilla, while his various agents
+in the country keep him advised of their wants, to meet which he
+makes large purchases from the merchants, and forwards the same to
+his country friends. Besides having many shops in the provinces,
+each of these head men is generally in the habit of having a number
+of shops in Manilla, sometimes upwards of a dozen being frequently all
+contiguous to one another, so that any one going into one of his shops
+and asking for something the price of which appears too dear, refuses
+it and goes to the next shop, which probably belongs to the same man,
+and is likely to buy it, as he is apt to think--because they all ask
+the same price--that it cannot be got cheaper elsewhere, so gives
+the amount demanded for it, although it is probably very much too dear.
+
+There is another advantage which the Chinese have found from the
+system they pursue,--that large purchasers of goods from the merchants
+who import them for sale are frequently able to buy them for less
+money than those smaller traders who are not in the habit of making
+purchases to the same amount from the importers,--as the credit of
+a small dealer is not sufficiently good to induce a merchant to sell
+them more than he imagines he is likely to be paid for.
+
+In these Chinese shops, the owner usually engages all the activity
+of his countrymen employed by him in them, by giving each of them a
+share in the profits of the concern, or, in fact, by making them all
+small partners in the business, of which he of course takes care to
+retain the lion's share, so that while doing good for him by managing
+it well, they are also benefiting themselves. To such an extent is
+this principle carried, that it is usual to give even their coolies
+a share in the profits of the business in lieu of fixed wages, and
+the plan appears to suit their temper well; for although they are
+in general most complete eye-servants when working for a fixed wage,
+they are found to be most industrious and useful ones when interested
+even for the smallest share.
+
+The amount of business done by some of these Chinamen with the
+principal importers of manufactured goods, who are the British
+merchants, is very considerable, some of them frequently making monthly
+purchases to the extent of ten or fifteen thousand dollars from one
+person, nearly all of the goods being sold to them on credits of
+three, four, or six months after the date of purchase and delivery
+of the merchandise. Occasionally, however, some of them break down,
+and those importers who have been trusting them for large amounts,
+of course burn their fingers; Chinamen, as a general rule, being
+honest and trustworthy only so long as it appears to be their own
+interest to remain so. Most of them at Manilla are people who have
+made everything for themselves, from nothing except their hands to
+begin with, as no rich Chinamen, such as are met with in their native
+country, and occasionally in Java and Singapore, are found at Manilla;
+for nearly all those who come there have originally arrived as coolies,
+earning their bread by manual labour, but very few of them indeed
+having inherited anything from their fathers, except the arts of
+reading and writing, which nearly the whole of them, however poor,
+understand and are able to perform. Whenever they make money, they
+invariably return to China, the Government holding out no inducements
+for them to remain in the Philippines, as they do elsewhere in the
+Archipelago, where greater freedom and protection are allowed them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+The streets of Manilla have at all times a dead and dull appearance,
+with the exception of the two already mentioned as being in the
+business part of the town. The basement-floor of the houses being
+generally uninhabited, there are no windows opened in their walls,
+which present a mass of whitewashed stone and lime, without an object
+to divert the eye, except here and there, where small shops have
+been opened in them, these being generally for selling rice, fruit,
+oil, &c., and entirely deficient in the glare or glittering colours
+of gay merchandise, nearly all of which is confined to the shops of
+the Escolta, Rosario, and Santo Christo.
+
+The houses here, as elsewhere in hot climates, are arranged with great
+regard to ventilation and coolness, and are mostly large edifices;
+but are seldom well laid out, and are deficient in many respects. The
+entire white population, which amounts to upwards of 5,000, resides
+either in the city, by which is meant that portion of it within the
+walls, or in the principal part of the town outside the walls, and
+on the other side of the river from the city within the walls; and
+in this district is comprehended the great bulk of the population,
+which amounts to upwards of 200,000 souls.
+
+Those resident within the walls are principally government servants,
+&c., induced, by the proximity of the public offices, regimental
+cantonments, &c., as well as a lower house-rent, to brave the greater
+heat usually felt there, from the confined space within the walls,
+and the narrow streets, not permitting so free a circulation of air
+as is enjoyed in the houses _extra muros_.
+
+The largest description of houses, being the residences of Europeans,
+are spacious, and in many cases built on one plan, most of them
+being quadrangles inclosing a court-yard within their squares. Here
+the stables, &c., are usually situated; and, as may be supposed,
+the smell and view of them, should they happen to be in the least
+negligently kept, as they frequently are, afford but very little
+gratification to persons whose windows happen to be near.
+
+The upper part of the house, or second story, as we would say in
+Scotland, is in general the only portion of the house inhabited by
+its residents. The rooms below, being considered unhealthy, are in
+general converted into warehouses or shops, if they can be let as such
+from happening to be conveniently situated, or serve as coach-houses,
+lumber-rooms, &c. &c. The masonry of the lower walls is usually very
+substantial and strong, being calculated to resist the shocks of
+earthquakes, which occasionally happen. Those of the upper stories,
+which rise from them, and form the habitable part of the house above,
+are much slighter than the lower ones, and the joists and wooden-work
+about the roof are adapted for security against such accidents,
+by their being fastened with bolts on either side of the masonry,
+thus enabling it to give a little play to the motion of the shock,
+without being displaced by it, and coming down, as thick and heavy
+walls would most certainly do.
+
+However, on the occurrence of an earthquake, it is usual to run down
+stairs, and have the protection of the thick lower walls against
+any accident, such as that of the roof giving way. As the house I
+lived in while there may be taken as a specimen of many others, I
+shall describe it. After entering the gateway, the door of which is
+always very stout and heavy, and under the constant protection of a
+porter, for security's sake, you reach a flight of steps leading to
+the habitable part of the house, and enter a gallery running from
+the top of the staircase, and a suite of rooms facing the street,
+to the gala or drawing-room at the other end of the house, and a
+suite of rooms facing the river. The entire length of the gallery
+is about a hundred feet, by twenty broad, and it looks into the open
+court-yard forming the centre of the building, on one side. There are
+several large and spacious bedrooms on the other side, the windows of
+which are lighted from a narrow street running to the river. Facing
+the gallery, and on the other side of the house, across the central
+court-yard, that entire side of the building is appropriated by the
+servants for cooking and sleeping-places.
+
+The beams supporting the upper or habitable floor extend four or
+five feet beyond the outer wall, towards the street, forming a sort
+of verandah, or corridor, as it is called in Spanish as well as in
+English, round the entire building, affording a considerable protection
+against the sun's rays. The outer side of this corridor is composed
+of coarse and dark-coloured mother-of-pearl shell of little value,
+set in a wooden framework of small squares, forming windows which move
+on slides. Although the light admitted through this sort of window is
+much inferior to what glass would give, it has the advantage of being
+strong, and is not very liable to be damaged by the severe weather
+to which it is occasionally exposed during some months of the year.
+
+There are few buildings distinguishable for architectural beauty,
+and those few are for the most part churches. The governor's house,
+or the palace, is a large and spacious building within the walls,
+and forms one side of the Playa, the other three being formed by
+the cathedral, the Cabildo, and some private houses, whose irregular
+height detracts considerably from the appearance of the square. In the
+centre of the square stands a statue of I forget what King of Spain,
+well executed in bronze.
+
+It is usual for a military band to perform before the palace on
+Sunday and feast-day evenings, and on these occasions many carriages
+go there from the drive, about eight o'clock, to enjoy the music,
+and give people a good opportunity for either gossip or love-making,
+as their tastes or the moonlight may incline them.
+
+The native Indians appear to have a good ear for music, and execute
+many of the finest operas with spirit and taste; and the amateur
+musicians in particular, who train the casino band, have brought the
+native performers to a very high degree of perfection in most of the
+pieces performed by them. A good deal more attention, however, appears
+to be paid to training these military bands, than in perfecting the
+troops themselves in their evolutions.
+
+Religious processions are as frequently passing through the streets,
+as they are in all the Roman Catholic countries of Europe, but
+the features of all are very nearly identical, and so need not be
+particularly described.
+
+When one of these processions takes place during the day, an awning
+is spread along the streets it will pass through, to protect the
+bareheaded promenaders from the sun, the canvass being attached to
+the house roofs along the streets; making them incredibly hot to pass
+along, so long as it remains there.
+
+A good deal of display in silver and gold ornaments may be seen in
+some of the churches, the collections of many successive years, as
+every incumbent shows his piety and zeal by adding something to them
+during the time he holds the cure.
+
+The jewels in some of the dresses of the figures, especially those of
+the Virgin, are valued at, or amount to, a considerable sum of money,
+and I have heard twenty thousand dollars mentioned as the value of
+those belonging to one church in Manilla.
+
+The houses of the Indian and Mestizo population are for the most
+part in the outskirts of the business part of the town, those of the
+richer sort being built of stone, and those of the poorest class being
+composed of _nipa_, or attap. Among houses of this sort, when a fire
+takes place, great and rapid destruction is inevitable, and the only
+way of saving any portion of them from its fury is by throwing down
+all those in the direction of its advance.
+
+Nearly every season, however, some fires happen among them, and
+hundreds of families are frequently burned out before its progress can
+be arrested. This, however, is not anything like so calamitous an event
+for them as such an occurrence would be to the poor of Europe, for as
+the chief cost of a _nipa_ house consists in the labour of erection,
+after such a misfortune, they are soon replaced by their own personal
+labour--for whatever their usual trade or occupation may be, nearly
+all of the Indians are quite capable of constructing these houses for
+themselves, and often manage to complete them roughly in a few days. No
+nails need be used in their construction, everything necessary being
+produced in the islands, and easily attainable. Houses so constructed
+are very suitable for the climate, affording all the shelter requisite;
+and indeed the people appear to be much better lodged than many of
+the poor in England, where the cold and damp of the climate demand
+a substantial house, which too often they do not possess.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+The government of all the Philippine group, including the Mariana
+Islands, is intrusted to the charge of a Captain-General, who in
+virtue of his office is commander-in-chief of the forces, president
+of the Hacienda, admiral of marine, postmaster-general &c., &c. His
+power and authority, in short, extend to all those departments,
+over which his control, should he choose to exert it, is very absolute.
+
+The civil department of Her Most Catholic Majesty's service, so far
+as finance, &c., are concerned, is left to the administration of an
+officer who takes the title of Super-Intendente of the Hacienda; and
+who, putting the Archbishop aside, is regarded as the second official
+person at Manilla, or as ranking next to the Governor, the revenue,
+&c., being the branch he has principal charge of; but his acts are
+always subject to the control of the Captain-General.
+
+A military officer under the title of segundo Cabo, is under the
+Governor as acting commander-in-chief of the forces, and, in the event
+of the governor's absence from Manilla, is the person who fills his
+situation and succeeds him in his power. A post-captain of the navy
+is usually the rank of the person intrusted with the direction and
+management of the sea force, but he always has, I believe, the local
+or brevet rank of an admiral.
+
+The internal administration of the country is carried on by officials
+subordinate to those above-mentioned, the whole of the islands being
+parcelled out or divided into several provinces, in each of which
+there is an Alcalde, or Lieutenant-Governor, receiving his orders
+from, and quite dependent on the Captain-General, to whose favour he
+generally owes his appointment.
+
+These officers are invested with the chief civil and military
+authority in their own provinces; but although they have always a
+small guard of soldiers, the good order and quiet generally prevalent
+everywhere throughout the country render their military duties very
+unimportant, and their principal care is now required in the collection
+of revenue and the administration of justice within their several
+jurisdictions. These are not very arduous duties, owing principally
+to the efficient assistance derived from the authorities under them.
+
+Every province is divided into districts or parishes, in which there is
+some village or town, and in each of these places there is an official
+whom I shall call the Major, or _Capitan Gobernadorcillo_, and also
+some _Tenientes_ or Aldermen, as well as police alguacils. All
+of these have to report to the alcalde of the province any thing
+of importance occuring within their districts, and are commanded
+severally to assist and promote the views of the cura, or priest,
+by every means in their power. Most of the people who fill these
+situations are Indians or Mestizos, rather better off in worldly
+goods than the run of their countrymen.
+
+These gobernadorcillos, or little governors, possess considerable
+authority over the natives, for, besides having the chief municipal
+authority in their own districts, they are allowed to decide judicially
+in civil cases, when the amount in dispute does not exceed the
+value of forty-four dollars, or about ten pounds sterling, and in
+criminal cases undertake the prosecution, collecting the evidence
+and ascertaining the charges against any delinquent within their
+district, all of which is remitted by them to the provincial-governor
+and judge for his decision. Their election takes place annually,
+on the commencement of the new year, all over the country, and their
+power is exactly defined in a printed commission which they all hold
+from the Governor of the Philippines.
+
+The half-breeds, or people of mixed Chinese and Indian blood, known by
+the name of Sangleys, are usually permitted, in districts where their
+number is considerable, to elect a Major from among their own class,
+whose power over them is exactly similar to that of the captain of
+the village where they reside over the aboriginal Indians: they do
+not interfere with each other, and are quite independent of any one
+save the alcalde of the province. When there are two gobernadorcillos
+in the same village, they each look after their own class, whether
+Mestizos or natives.
+
+In addition to these local officials there is another curious body of
+men, called _Cabezas de barangay_; each of whom has under his charge
+about fifty families, whose tribute to government he has to collect,
+and for the amount of which he is held accountable.
+
+The persons who fill this office are usually resident in the immediate
+neighbourhood or in the same street with those from whom they have to
+collect the tribute, and have some slight authority over those who pay
+it to them, such as deciding petty quarrels and disputes among them,
+&c. The institution of this body is uncertain, and is said to have
+been originated by the aboriginal Indians themselves, and to have
+been found in full operation at the time of the earliest Spanish
+intercourse with them. The probability is, however, that at that
+period it was of a military nature, and their duties then were more
+to officer the armies of the native kings than for any of the uses
+it has been subsequently wisely put to by the white man. The office
+is hereditary in their families; but in the event of the person who
+exercises it changing his residence, or from other causes becoming
+unfit to discharge its duties, a successor is elected in his place.
+
+They are recompensed for their trouble in collecting taxes, &c.,
+by being themselves exempted from paying tribute to the state,
+and have several privileges by virtue of their office. As a body,
+they are always considered the principal people of their village,
+and only from among them, and by their votes alone, is the mayor or
+gobernadorcillo of the _pueblo_ chosen; that is to say, they choose
+a list of three Indians from among their own number for that office,
+each of whom should by law be able to speak, read, and write Spanish;
+and this list being forwarded to the alcalde, he indicates which
+of them is to be chosen, by scratching his name and filling up his
+commission. The election of these candidates ought to be made with
+closed doors, and must be authorized by the presence of an escribano,
+or attorney, to note the proceedings. The parish priest is allowed
+to attend if he choose, in order that he may influence the election
+of fit persons for the office by speaking in their favour, but he
+has not any vote in the matter.
+
+In the capital, owing to the number of Chinamen there, and in the
+neighbourhood, they are obliged to choose a capitan from among
+themselves, in order that he may collect their tribute and arrange
+their petty disputes with each other, which some one conversant with
+their customs and language is only fit to do.
+
+There are some fees now attached to this office, but the duties are so
+troublesome that the industrious Celestials very frequently find them
+incompatible with the management of their own trade or business, and
+for the most part are not at all ambitious of the honour of filling
+the situation, even although some fees accompany it.
+
+At the same time that the capitan is elected, his lieutenant and a
+head constable are also chosen by their countrymen.
+
+All Chinese arriving at Manilla are registered in a book kept for
+the purpose, for, as they pay tribute according to their occupation,
+the amount of it, and their numbers, are at once ascertained from
+that. Should they leave the country, their passports have to be
+countersigned by their capitan, who is to some extent responsible
+for them while residing in it.
+
+The emoluments of government offices are not very high; much too low,
+in fact, to recompense the class of men who are required to discharge
+them, and the consequence is, (as usual in such cases), that extortion
+and improper means are resorted to in order to increase their amount,
+all of which fall much heavier on the people than regularly collected
+taxes, sufficient to support their proper or adequate pay, would
+amount to.
+
+In the province of Cagayan, for instance, the alcalde's nominal pay
+is 600 dollars a-year, which sum is of course totally insufficient to
+recompense any educated man for undertaking and supporting the dignity
+of governor of a considerable province. But as the best tobacco is
+grown there, one of his duties is to collect and forward it to Manilla,
+for which he is allowed a commission, and this, with other privileges,
+is found to yield him in ordinary years about 20,000 dollars a-year,
+being in reality one of the most lucrative situations at the disposal
+of the Government.
+
+I believe that most people will concur with me in the opinion that the
+system of reducing the fixed official pay below a remuneration that
+will induce men of standing and education to undertake the duties
+which their situation requires them to exercise, and to trust to
+exaction supplying its place, is extremely impolitic, and much more
+expensive to the country than a more liberal scale of pay would prove.
+
+The alcaldes are allowed to trade on their own account, and for this
+their position affords them many facilities; but for the permission
+to do so, they are required to pay a considerable annual fee to
+Government, ranging from about one hundred to three thousand dollars.
+
+The wisdom of granting them this permission is very doubtful, as it
+not unfrequently happens that the privilege is abused by rapacious
+men, eager to make the most of their time and collect a fortune,
+and occasionally it gives rise to much oppression.
+
+The poor Indian cultivators of the soil, accustomed all their lives
+to look upon the alcalde of their native province as the greatest
+and most powerful man they know of, have very little redress for
+their grievance, should that person, in the pursuit of money-making
+and trade buy up all their crop of sugar, rice, or other produce,
+whatever it may be, and in a falling market refuse to receive the
+articles contracted for, or to complete the bargain agreed upon with
+them. On the contrary, however, should anything he may have contracted
+to buy be rising in value at Manilla, the poor Indian, who has sold it
+too cheap to him, has no chance of getting clear of the bad bargain he
+may have made with the alcalde, should it appear to that individual
+worth his while to keep him to it, as every means are at his command
+or beck, aided by all the force of the executive, and the terrors of
+a law administered by himself, to compel him to ratify his contract.
+
+In these circumstances the alcalde never makes a bad bargain, or loses
+money on any of his transactions, and there is little wonder that
+rapid fortunes are made by men holding these situations, when such
+scandalous means are constantly resorted to by them, so that generally,
+after a very few years of office, these people are upon very easy terms
+with the world, although nominally only receiving a wretchedly low pay.
+
+Notwithstanding these abuses, however, the government of the people
+is on the whole much more effective, and consequently better, than
+it is in many places of British India. No such thing was ever known
+as disaffection becoming so generally diffused among them as to lead
+to a rebellion of the people, or an attempt to shake off the leeches
+who suck them so deeply; and this can only be attributed to the sway
+the priesthood have over the minds of the Indians, as without their
+influence and aid, beyond a doubt, such an attempt would be made;
+and if it should ever come about, it would be no very difficult
+affair for the natives, if properly led, to overthrow the sway of the
+Spaniards. Although there is very little religion among the Indians,
+there is abundance of superstitious feeling, and fear of the padre's
+displeasure; indeed, the church has long proved to be, upon the whole,
+by much the most cheap and efficacious instrument of good government
+and order that could be employed anywhere, so long as its influence
+has been properly directed. In the Philippines there appears to be
+little doubt but that it is one of the most beneficial that could
+be exerted as a medium for the preservation of good order among the
+people, who are admonished and taught to be contented, while it is
+not forgetful of their interests, as they very generally learn reading
+by its aid--so much of it, at least, as to enable them to read their
+prayer-books, or other religious manuals.
+
+There are very few Indians who are unable to read, and I have
+always observed that the Manilla men serving on board of ships,
+and composing their crews, have been much oftener able to subscribe
+their names to the ship's articles than the British seamen on board
+the same vessels could do, or even on board of Scottish ships, whose
+crews are sometimes superior men, so far as education is concerned,
+to those born in other parts of Great Britain. This fact startled
+me at first; but it has been frequently remarked upon by people very
+strongly prejudiced in favour of white men, and who despise the black
+skins of Manilla men, regarding them as inferior beings to themselves,
+as strongly as many of our countrymen often do.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+From old prejudices, and other causes, the Spanish people have not
+as yet learned how to work the more liberal form of government now
+enjoyed by their country. But there is no doubt that the experience
+necessary to do so is daily being acquired by them at home, and when
+it becomes prevalent, its effects may be expected to be shown by the
+class of men selected to administer the government of their colonies,
+the white population of which are of considerably more advanced
+intelligence than their countrymen in Spain.
+
+In most colonies the people appear to possess a superior degree of
+vigour or freshness of mind to those born in Europe, or in old and
+thickly inhabited countries. This may result in a great degree from
+their comparative freedom from conventional prejudices, the results
+of a long and insensible growth in families, which trammel nearly
+every mind in densely peopled countries, and more especially in places
+where commerce is languidly carried on. Perhaps also in some measure
+it may be owing to the greater facility the poorer classes have in
+all colonies of earning a livelihood, which, by freeing their minds
+from anxiety on that score, leaves some room for their speculations
+on other matters.
+
+In the administration of government, they are even now guided
+essentially by the most imperative rules; but I hope that, ere long, in
+many cases, the very arbitrary proceedings of their chief authorities
+abroad, may become subject to approval by a council such as exists
+in our Indian possessions, and in Java among the Dutch, as there can
+be little doubt but that it would prove advantageous to the country
+did such a body exist.
+
+As an example of the procedures of the Manilla government, I may
+mention the following facts, which occurred to an acquaintance of my
+own, and on which every dependence may be placed.
+
+Don Francisco P. de O---- having been presented with the governorship
+of one of the best or most lucrative provinces in the Philippines,
+set out for his residency and commenced his duties, which he continued
+to fulfil satisfactorily to himself and the people for upwards of
+a year--about fifteen months, I believe. His commission as Governor
+embraced four years from the date of his appointment; however, at the
+end of the first year in his office, a nephew of the then Governor
+happened to arrive at Manilla, and it became an object of interest
+to his uncle to get him into some good place before the term of his
+appointment as Governor expired. Casting his eyes around on everything
+that might serve his turn, he happened to recollect Don Francisco's
+alcalde-ship, and forthwith despatched an order to my unfortunate
+friend to return to Manilla, there to answer some complaints which,
+he alleged in the order of recall, had been made against his
+administration of the province, and at the same time told him to
+deliver over all authority to the person he sent for the purpose,
+that individual being neither more nor less than his own nephew.
+
+Don Francisco, ignorant of committing any crime or fault, or of
+anything that could justify this very unceremonious recall, hastened to
+Manilla, and presenting himself at the palace, demanded what charges
+had been lodged against him, and by whom they had been made. But
+he could learn nothing of them, and was commanded by the Governor
+to wait in Manilla till he should be formally summoned to answer
+them. It is now, however, upwards of ten years since this happened,
+and from that day to this he has never been summoned, nor has he been
+even able to find out what the charges were on which he was recalled
+from his lucrative appointment, although repeated applications were
+made to the Governor who recalled him for a trial. All the subsequent
+Governors have professed their inability to give him the information,
+which, had such charges actually been framed, must have been found in
+the archives, so that no doubt can now exist but that this villanous
+trick was trumped up by the Governor to serve his own family by the
+bestowal of Don Francisco's place. And as my friend has since filled
+other situations, (and, in fact, is an Alcalde,) having been selected
+by different Governors for office, the accusation does not in the
+least affect his character.
+
+But, in truth, many of the natives of Spain who are even now selected
+to fill the highest offices, are about as despotic and as unscrupulous
+as any Asiatics in their notions of government and in their exercise
+of power, and as bad even as the Turks themselves are in their
+administration of justice and equity; while the Spanish government,
+and the political knowledge of the people, are infinitely behind the
+Turkish government in everything concerning their commercial policy.
+
+During the time of electing members for the Cortes, or parliament
+in Spain, of course the existing government were anxious to secure
+the tide of the general election running in their favour--but what
+means do you, my courteous reader, imagine they took to secure this
+object? Why, neither more nor less than to order the police to seize
+all persons suspected of being likely to oppose their party actively
+at the ensuing elections throughout the country. Thousands of people
+were actually seized and hurried off to jail, to be confined there
+till the danger was past; and many of them, on the jails becoming too
+full to contain them all, were hurried to a seaport town and put on
+board ships sailing to Manilla, or, by hundreds at a time, sent out
+on a voyage of four months' duration, to reconsider their political
+opinions, and then to find their road home as they best might.
+
+These people were captured in all situations of time and place, and
+were not allowed to communicate with their friends while in prison
+in Spain, which must have given rise to at least as much distress
+and privation among as many persons as the numbers of those seized,
+for very many of them were people with families entirely dependent
+upon them for support.
+
+About a thousand of these _deportados_ reached Manilla in 1848-9, and
+being entirely destitute of all resources or means of subsistence, they
+had to be taken care of by the Colonial Government, who allowed them
+some rice and water every day, and had, finally, to charter vessels
+to re-ship them for the Peninsula. One of them was an Irishman, who
+having entered the Spanish service when a lad, had reached the rank
+of Colonel; his father was a general officer and K.C.B. of our own
+army, who, I believe, had married a Spanish lady, and after his death,
+his family had become resident in Spain.
+
+The bad accommodation of a crowded ship, together with the want
+of change of clothes, which he was not allowed to procure from
+his friends, and the general filthiness of the people with whom he
+was obliged to be cooped up during the long voyage, acted on him so
+severely that it caused his death a very short time after his arrival
+at Manilla. Thus the poor fellow fell a sacrifice to this abominable
+stretch of arbitrary power, and dying destitute, was buried there,
+after having been maintained decently in a hotel during the remainder
+of his existence, at the expense of his countrymen then at Manilla.
+
+When acts so atrocious as these can be done with impunity in any
+European country by a powerful minister of the crown, we may form some
+idea of its advance in the arts of self-government and the security
+of its people.
+
+This young man was very far from being the only person who fell a
+victim to these acts, as many died from causes similar to those which
+deprived him of life; and his case is only mentioned to give some
+idea of the lengths men will proceed to when no checks are placed
+on the Government machine, to prevent its bursting, and damaging
+thousands. These abuses are so shameful, that they are scarcely
+credible in Britain; but they are easily capable of corroboration
+by inquiry and a little knowledge of Spain, where very frequently
+caprice is the only law in existence, or at least is the only one acted
+upon. I might multiply instances, but this is doubtless sufficient.
+
+The orders of the Court at Madrid are not always laws in their
+colonies, for every now and then the most imperative commands come
+out from Spain which are refused obedience to at Manilla, where it
+is openly asserted that the home government gives orders in favour
+of importunate suitors, without the least expectation that they will
+be acted upon by those to whom they are addressed; granting them,
+in fact, merely to get rid of troublesome people who might annoy them
+at home if their demands were refused.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+People are generally seen to most advantage in their own houses;
+and nowhere, I think, does any one appear to play the host better
+than an average specimen of a Spanish gentleman under his own roof.
+
+Notwithstanding a great deal of ceremony and the customary exaggerated
+polite expressions used to every stranger, there is so much innate
+hospitality in the national character that it is not to be mistaken,
+and is perhaps one of their best and greatest virtues as individuals.
+
+The modes of expression usual on occasions such as that of a first
+visit to a house appear rather strange to any one born under a colder
+sun than that of old Castile, and the first time that one is told,
+on taking leave of his host at a place he has been visiting for the
+first time, that the house, and every thing and person in it, are
+his, or at his disposal, he is apt to be puzzled by the exaggeration
+of the speech which contains such an unlimited offer, should he
+be ignorant that it is quite a usual expression. Of course it means
+nothing more than were any one to say or subscribe himself in English,
+"I am your obedient servant," which he may be very far from feeling,
+and may be constantly in the habit of using to his inferiors, and
+even to people paid or employed by himself.
+
+Some years ago an eccentric man, when this expression was used to him,
+was known occasionally to interpret the words in their literal sense,
+and in more than one instance he had the credit of having adroitly made
+his court to a lady in that manner. He would watch for an opportunity,
+or give a turn to the conversation, which would afford him a chance
+of expressing admiration of some ornament she wore at the time, when
+the fair owner would, as a matter of course, say that it was at his
+disposal. Much to her surprise, the offer would be accepted, and the
+swain would walk off with the ornament he had praised. However, next
+day he always returned it in person; and to soothe her irritation,
+which must have been excited by such conduct, he took the opportunity
+of presenting her with some other ornament, or complimentary gift of
+some description. This, if done as an atonement and peace-offering,
+would probably be accepted, and the way was paved for an entrance into
+her good graces, which he might have been quite unable to obtain by
+any more direct means.
+
+Frankness or openness of manner is considered by the Spaniards to be
+the most desirable point of good breeding; and when any one possesses
+that quality, he is pretty sure to be well received by them.
+
+It is the custom at Manilla for any respectably-dressed European
+passing by a house where music and dancing are going on, to be
+permitted to join the party, although he may be a perfect stranger
+to every one there; and should any one do so, after having made his
+bow to the master of the house, and said some words, of course about
+the liberty he was taking, and his fondness for music and dancing,
+&c., he is always welcomed by him, and is at perfect liberty to ask
+any lady present to dance; nor is she likely to refuse him, as her
+doing so would scarcely be considered well bred.
+
+This degree of freedom is not, however, at all times acted on in
+the houses of the natives of Spain, or of any European foreigners,
+as any one going so unceremoniously into these might not meet with
+so cordial a reception as he would do from the rich Mestizos, who,
+when they give such _fêtes_ on feast days, are in general well pleased
+to receive Europeans, although perfect strangers, in their houses.
+
+These very free and unceremonious manners, among people who have
+such a reputation for the love of ceremony in all forms, are strange
+enough, for the same custom prevails in Spain, although to a more
+limited extent.
+
+Some years ago a British merchant, resident at Manilla, was very
+much blamed by his countrymen for not conforming to the customs of
+the country in this respect. He broke through them in this manner;--
+
+After the China war, a part of the expedition visited Manilla,
+including some of the principal officers both of the army and navy,
+who had just been so gallantly distinguishing themselves in that
+country. On their arrival at Manilla, the houses of their countrymen
+to whom they went provided with introductions were in a great measure
+thrown open to them; and of course, as their hospitable entertainers
+wished to show them something of the people and the place, a good
+deal of gaiety was got up to amuse them. Among others the gentleman
+in question gave a ball to General Lord Saltoun and the Admiral,
+including, of course, most of the other officers of the expedition. The
+party was a large one, and included nearly all the British residents
+there, together with his Spanish acquaintances.
+
+Hearing the sounds of music and dancing in the street, a stranger
+entered the house and walked up stairs; and unperceived, I believe,
+by the landlord, entered the ball-room, where he engaged a Spanish
+lady to dance,--the girl whom he asked chancing to be the daughter of
+a military officer of rank, and a particular friend of the giver of
+the party. On leading her up to her place, the stranger was remarked,
+and recognised by some one present, who asked his host if he knew
+who the person was; but he, on looking at him, merely said that he
+did not, and was passing on without more notice or thought about
+him. Just at the moment, some one wishing to quiz him, said to the
+host, who was a man of hasty temper and feelings,--"So, D----, you
+have got my tailor to meet your guests," pointing, at the same time,
+towards the stranger whom he had just been observing.
+
+Of course, Mr. D---- was angry at the liberty taken by such a person
+in joining his party, and probably afraid of the laugh it would give
+rise to; for he walked up to the tailor, and asked him in a most angry
+manner by whose invitation he came there, and then, without waiting
+for any reply, catching his coat-collar, walked with him to the top of
+the stairs, and kicked him down. The man complained to the governor,
+and the consequence was that Mr. D---- was fined a considerable amount,
+and for some time banished to a place at a short distance from Manilla,
+which he was forbidden to enter. As he was a merchant, and of course
+had his business to attend to, this was a most severe punishment,
+which, by the influence of the Consul, however, was subsequently
+rescinded, and he was allowed to return to town.
+
+In giving entertainments in honour of their saints, great sums of
+money are frequently spent by the richer class of Mestizos and Indians,
+every one appearing to vie with his neighbour, as to who shall be most
+splendid in his saint's honour; and even among nearly the whole of
+the poor people there is always some little extravagance gone into on
+these occasions: some time previous to the feast taking place, part of
+their earnings are carefully set apart for the feast-night's enjoyment.
+
+At many of their _fiestas_, besides the devotional exercises, there is
+a great deal of amusement going on, the Mestiza girls being frequently
+good-looking, and nearly all of them addicted to dancing; many of
+them are passionately fond of waltzes, and dance them remarkably
+well--better, I think, than any women I have elsewhere seen in a
+private room.
+
+Their dress, which is well adapted to the climate, is, when worn by
+a good-looking girl, particularly neat.
+
+It consists of a little shirt, generally made of piña cloth, with wide
+short sleeves: it is worn loose, and, quite unbound to the figure in
+any way, reaches to the waist, round which the _saya_ or petticoat
+is girt, it being generally made of silk, checked or striped, of gay
+colours, of _husè_ cloth, or of cotton cloth. Within doors, these
+compose their dress, no stockings being worn, but their well-formed
+feet, inserted in slight slippers without heels, and embroidered with
+gold and silver lace, lose nothing in beauty from the want of them.
+
+Out of doors, another piece of dress called the _sapiz_, composed of
+dark blue silk or cotton cloth, slightly striped with narrow white
+stripes, is usually worn over the saya.
+
+No bonnets or hats of any sort are worn by them, their long and
+beautiful hair being considered a sufficient protection to the head,
+which they arrange in something like the European fashion, it being
+fastened by a comb, or some gold ornament in a knot at the back of
+the head.
+
+On going out of doors, a handkerchief is often thrown over the head,
+should the sun be strong, or an umbrella or parasol is carried as a
+protection against it.
+
+A similar dress, made of coarser and cheaper materials, is the usual
+costume of all the native women.
+
+The men, both native and Mestizo, wear trousers fastened round the
+waist by a cord or tape, the fabric being sometimes silk of country
+manufacture, for their gala dresses, or of cotton cloth striped and
+coloured, for every-day use.
+
+The shirt, which is worn outside the trousers, that is to say, the
+tails hanging loose above the trousers, and reaching to just below the
+hips, is generally made of piña cloth, or, among the poorest people,
+of blue or white cotton cloth. When of piña cloth, the pattern is
+generally of blue or other coloured stripes with flowers, &c. worked
+on them, and it is a very handsome and gay piece of dress. When worn
+outside the trousers, it is much cooler than when stuffed into them
+in the European manner. A hat and slippers, or sandals of native
+manufacture, complete their dress, and the only difference of costume
+between the rich and poor consists in the greater or less value of
+the materials which compose it. No coat or jacket is worn, but many
+of the men, and nearly all the women, wear a rosary of beads or gold
+round their necks; and frequently a gold cross, suspended by a chain
+of the same metal, rests between the bosoms of the fair. Many of them
+also wear charms, which having been blessed by the priest, are supposed
+to be faithful guardians, and to preserve the wearer from all evil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+The honours paid to the saints by the celebration of their feast-days
+are nearly altogether practised by the Mestizo and Indian population,
+the richer or upper classes of Spaniards being for the most part too
+careless on such occasions, except when their turn comes to dance at
+the _fêtes_, or to eat the supper set out by their Mestizo neighbours
+on these anniversaries; and certainly, if their piety be judged by
+the alacrity usually displayed on such occasions, they will stand
+very forward in the race out of purgatory. For, strange to say, the
+modern Spaniards--at least those who come to the Philippines--are
+as little superstitious or priest-ridden as the people of any
+nation in Europe. Probably this is a symptom of their return to a
+more moderate degree of faith than they used to evince prior to the
+French Revolution, which has altered the tone of opinion and manners
+throughout the world. And after the severity and rigid observance of
+all the church high-days and holydays formerly prevalent among them,
+the tide of opinion appears to have run into the opposite extreme.
+
+I have frequently been astonished at discovering the extent to which
+infidel notions are current among my Spanish acquaintances; their
+prevailing opinions on the subject being, that the priests and some
+of the tenets of the Catholic church are behind the age, and as such,
+are to some extent unworthy of the serious attention of well-informed
+people of the present day, and that those things are only suitable for
+women and children. _Es cosa de mugeres_, is the usual expression,
+should the subject be mentioned; and as regards the priests, the
+laity very generally fancy that they must be watched carefully, as
+they are certain to assume importance should an opportunity offer for
+thrusting their noses into any affair they can, military or civil--it
+matters not which to these ambitious men.
+
+Among the native population, however, high church opinions, or a
+notion that virtue is inherent in the walls of the church and the
+priestly office, is very common, so that whatever the _padre_ says
+is looked upon as indisputable by them. But I cannot say that any
+rational systems of religion, or feelings not associated so much with
+the _padre's_ office and dress, and with the stone and lime of the
+church, as with the more pure and immaterial subjects of religious
+belief, exist among them, or influence their conduct. Frequently one
+sees instances of this, which place their feelings in the grossest
+and worst light. For example, the first act of a courtesan in the
+morning is generally to repair to the church, and after, as a matter
+of course, having said her prayers, to pass the time in any species
+of debauchery or immorality her lovers may wish. I state this fact,
+to give some idea of the extent of superstition and of priestly
+influence over their conduct, which shows how powerfully mere habits
+and custom may influence our manners without improving our minds,
+when we are brought up in a formal routine of habits of respect for we
+don't know well what; for they have no further acquaintance with the
+principles of religious belief than the habit of crossing themselves
+before figures of the Virgin and the crucifixion.
+
+For even these women, infamous though they be, seldom omit the
+observance of such practices, and are in general as punctual in
+repeating diurnally the formal prayer which has been taught them in
+childhood, as any Christian can be, whenever the hour of _oraçion_
+is come, which is notified to all the population by the tolling of
+the church bells.
+
+However, Manilla appears not to be quite singular as to these matters;
+for it has been frequently stated by visitors to the states of the
+Church, that nine months after the great religious festival of the
+Carnival there, a much greater number of illegitimate children are
+born than during other seasons of the year.
+
+This statement, which I have seen mentioned as a statistical fact,
+is probably attributable to the idleness of the people, ignorant and
+uninstructed as to any higher devotional feelings than those which
+custom teaches; although, doubtless, religious admonition, having
+a tendency to unloose the mind, and withdraw it from its customary
+objects of interest, may induce these softer emotions, and among
+people in whom the animal passions preponderate over those of the
+mind, or of a spiritual nature, may frequently lead to conduct of
+this loose description.
+
+Perhaps, also, the sense of satisfaction after having gone through the
+ceremony of attending church, and of having performed the humble duty
+which all are taught to practise there, disposes the people to this
+license, for they carry away no new idea with them from the sacred
+house. The formal exercise there being gone through by rote, without
+exciting new feelings, or touching new chords in their hearts, may
+cause them to break away from strictness, and give a rein to their
+passions after the exercise of their religious duties.
+
+The Indians are people who, being bred up with a regard to observances
+which retain no hold over their minds--at least, over the reason
+which God has endowed them with--in order to judge for themselves,
+think religious observances derive their importance only from custom;
+but having been trained up with little regard to the sterner and
+self-denying mental duties or instruction usually held up to our
+admiration in Britain and other Protestant countries, they can scarcely
+be expected to practise them. In addition to this, the heat of the
+climate probably disposes them this way; as in all countries where
+the _dolce far niente_ is most agreeable to them, or is generally
+practised by the inhabitants, those feelings are likely to prevail
+in a greater degree than where active habits are more congenial to
+the people and the temperature of the climate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+The habits of the Spanish residents at Manilla are exceedingly
+indolent. As persons in the government service form the great
+proportion of the white population, a sketch of the habits of one
+of them may not be uninteresting;--say those of an average officer
+of the Hacienda, for instance. He usually gets out of bed about six,
+or a little after, to enjoy the cool air of the morning, and sip his
+chocolate, with the aid of _broas_, without which he could scarcely
+manage to get through the day; he then dresses, and drives to his
+office, where he remains till twelve o'clock, which hour finishes
+his official duties for the day. While in his office the nature
+of his work is not very arduous, and does not appear to call into
+play any powers of the mind, as it appears to consist only in his
+remaining for about four hours in a cool and large room, generally
+seated at a table or desk, overlooking a number of native writers,
+occupied in making out and filling up forms which are required by
+the existing regulations for the government service. The Spaniard,
+however, has nothing to do with all that, only occasionally exerting
+himself so far as to sign his name, or merely to dash his rubrica,
+without taking the trouble to sign his name, to the papers presented
+to him by these native copyists; and should you enter his office,
+he generally appears to be just awaking from a nap, as he opens his
+eyes, and rouses himself to salute a visitor.
+
+At noon the public offices are closed, and he drives home to dine about
+one or two o'clock, after which he generally sleeps till about five,
+for nearly all of the Spanish residents take a long siesta. About
+that time of the day, however, he is awakened to dress and prepare
+for the _paseo_ on the Calyada, and for the _tertulia_ after it, at
+the house of some acquaintance; or if he should by any chance happen
+to be without acquaintance, to saunter through the Chinamen's shops,
+admiring walking-canes, cravats, or waistcoat-pieces; and while
+so engaged, he is pretty sure to meet some companion for a gossip,
+or other amusement. After this he sets off to sup at home, and to
+sleep till another day comes round, when the same routine must be
+gone through.
+
+It would be hard to conjecture a mode of passing or sauntering through
+life with less apparent object than many of them have. Books are scarce
+and expensive, and are in little demand by most of the residents,
+even if they were worth reading, and cheaper, and more procurable
+than they now are; the library--if the term may be applied to their
+collection--of such people, generally only comprising one or two plays,
+and perhaps a novel--sometimes also Don Quixote's adventures, which,
+with a volume of poetry, is about the average amount of learning and
+amusement on their book-shelves. But should the owner be a military
+man, he probably has, in addition to these, some Spanish standard
+book, equivalent to our "Dundas's Principles," or "Regulations for
+the Cavalry."
+
+Smoking, sleeping, and eating, are the labours of their days, and
+in all of these they are adepts. Their prevalent taste, however, as
+regards cookery, is not suitable to a British palate, as the favourite
+accompaniment of garlic is commonly used in such a quantity by their
+cooks, that they are very apt to spoil a dinner for a foreigner's
+eating, unless they are checked or cautioned with regard to the use
+of it.
+
+Their usual drink is wine of different kinds, which they take out of
+a glass or tumbler, as we would beer or water: the quantity consumed
+is moderate enough, about a pint being a usual allowance--and that
+is frequently mixed with about an equal quantity of water. Sherry,
+claret, priorato, pajarete, manzanilla, malaga, and muscatel, are the
+sorts most in request, all of them being of ordinary quality, to the
+taste of any one accustomed to drink good wine at home, from which the
+wines procurable here are as different as possible, and especially the
+sherry. But in that resides a mystery known best to the wine-merchants,
+who doctor up the wine consumed in Great Britain to suit the taste of
+those who buy it from them. Strange to say, even to this, a Spanish
+colony, there is not sent out a single pipe of wine, such as any one
+accustomed to drink the British _composition_ would call good sherry.
+
+Claret, or _vino tinto_, is very generally used in preference to
+tea or coffee at breakfast, but at that early time of the day it is
+mixed with a large proportion of water. This meal, however, is not a
+general one in the Philippines, as the custom of taking chocolate in
+the morning destroys all appetite for it, and the early dinner hour
+of the Spaniards in general, does not render it essential.
+
+The want of interesting occupation, and the heat of the sun, preventing
+out-of-door exercise during the day, has doubtless originated these
+indolent customs, which have given rise to many bad habits, and the
+low scale of morality prevailing among them.
+
+A large proportion of them being bachelors, are in the habit of
+selecting a mistress as a companion with whom they may forget the
+dullness, and shake off the apathy of their aimless existence; a very
+large proportion, in fact, nearly all of them, being in the habit of
+choosing such a household companion from among the Creole, Mestiza,
+or native girls, but generally from the last two races.
+
+The native girls have the reputation of proving more faithful to
+their lovers than the other two, as they look upon such a connection
+in the light of a marriage, and consider themselves guilty of no
+immorality during its continuance. When a native beauty forms such
+a connection with a white man, her relations do not sunder all the
+former ties existing between her and them, by casting her off, but
+on the contrary are, as frequently as not, highly pleased at it,
+viewing the affair in the light of a fortunate marriage for her.
+
+These feelings, however, are not universal, for some of the richer
+class of Indians would be highly displeased with a female relation
+forming such a connection.
+
+Among the Indians themselves this arrangement frequently takes place,
+as very many of the poorest people are unable to save money enough to
+pay their marriage fees, and in the event of a couple living together
+without having had the ceremony performed previously, they regard
+themselves, and are considered by their neighbours, as not the less
+man and wife. As an instance of the extent to which this prevails among
+them, I may mention a circumstance which struck me much at the time:--
+
+Being near the cathedral at Manilla one evening in April last, I
+entered an open door of the edifice and wandered into a room attached
+to it, where several people were in waiting, and among them several
+women with children to be baptized. I stopped to witness the ceremony,
+and had the curiosity to look into the register where their names were
+enrolled; in that book, two of them were described as illegitimate
+children, and the third was the only one born in matrimony.
+
+Although the custom does not prevail to anything like the extent
+of two-thirds of the population, still it is a very frequent one,
+and proves among other things, that the sort of religion prevailing
+among the people is only that of forms, possessing no sufficient hold
+over their minds to regulate their conduct.
+
+Compare their religious ideas with those of the old Scottish
+covenanters, or English puritans, and how different are the effects
+of faith; but perhaps they are not more dissimilar than the natures
+of the two races are. For there is no race in the world with all the
+good qualities of the Celtic breed crossed by the Saxon, and that
+again by the Norman; for depend upon it, blood tells in every human
+being--aye, and as much in men as in dogs or horses.
+
+But, unfortunately for ourselves, men pay less attention to the innate
+qualities and virtues of blood and pedigree, when selecting a mate for
+themselves, than they do when their dogs or horses are in question,
+as then no trouble is spared to trace out and scrutinise the qualities
+of _their_ sires, and to breed only from a good stock.
+
+By pedigree, of course not the worldly station of men is meant, but
+the history of their lives and reputations, as good and useful men of
+their time. Of necessity both parents affect the character of their
+offspring, and so we frequently see a great and good man leaving
+behind him none in his family capable of supplying his place. Now,
+how is this? Why, it comes from the mistake he has made in selecting
+his mate, for if he had been more cautious in that respect the produce
+would have been equal to the promise.
+
+How often do we see wise men with silly wives and tall men with short
+wives. The only wonder is, that the offspring of such couples are
+not worse than they are.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+The intercourse between the Spaniards and many of the foreigners
+residing at Manilla is not very great, as the British here,
+as everywhere else, appear to prefer associating with their own
+countrymen to frequenting the houses of their Spanish friends,
+even although quite sure of a cordial reception there. The time
+for visiting is in the evening, when there are numbers of impromptu
+conversaziones--or tertulias, as they are called--of which the Dons
+are very fond, and in which very many of their evenings are passed.
+
+Any one having a few Spanish acquaintances is pretty sure to number
+among them some persons who, from their own character, or that of
+some member of their family, such as a pretty and pleasant wife,
+or a handsome daughter, has generally many visitors at his house,
+perhaps six, ten, or a dozen of an evening, who call there without
+any preconcerted plan, and sit down to play a round game at cards
+or gossip with each other for an hour. Should there be ladies of the
+party, music and dancing are probably the amusements for an hour or
+two; you may, of course, escape and go on to the house of some one
+else should the party turn out to be dull, which, however, is very
+seldom the case when Spaniards are the company, as every one appears
+to exert himself to amuse and be amused to the best of his power.
+
+The time for evening visits is any time after seven o'clock, for till
+about that hour nearly all the white population are enjoying the cool
+air on the Calyada, or on some of the other drives, all of which are
+crowded with carriages from about half-past five till that time of
+the evening.
+
+Some of these equipages are handsome enough, and are almost universally
+horsed by a pair of the country ponies, there being only one or two
+people who turn out with a pair of Sydney horses, and very few who
+drive a single-horse vehicle, although it is met with now and then. The
+only persons allowed to drive four horses in their carriages are the
+Governor and the Archbishop: this regulation is frequently grumbled at
+by the Spanish Jehus, and one gentleman, the colonel of a regiment,
+having applied to the government for permission to indulge his taste
+in this respect by driving a four-in-hand, was refused it, so he had
+to content himself with turning out with only three in his drag. With
+that number of quadrupeds, however, he did a good deal to frighten and
+amuse the world, apparently wishing to break his neck, in which he very
+nearly succeeded on more than one occasion; Spanish accomplishments
+in driving being by no means equal to those general at home.
+
+A young Spaniard who fills an important office connected with the
+commerce of Manilla, a situation he is said to owe more to the frailty
+of his mother, a fair lady at the court of the late King of Spain,
+whom he exactly resembles in appearance, temper, and manners, than
+to any qualifications especially pointing him out for the post, used
+frequently to assert his royal blood by turning out a neat barouche
+and pair, accompanied by two outriders, and certainly he looked much
+smarter and better appointed than either of the authorities driving
+four horses.
+
+The expense of keeping horses is very small, so that nearly all,
+except the very poorest people, keep carriages, which in that climate
+are considered more as necessaries of life than as luxuries, and to a
+certain extent really are so; for the sun most effectually prevents
+Europeans walking to any distance during the heat of the day, and
+should any one attempt doing so, a month of it is about time enough
+seriously to injure or perhaps to kill him. About sunset everybody is
+most glad to escape from the impure air of the town and the crowded
+narrow streets, to inhale the fresh breeze from the bay on the Calyada,
+which is the most frequented drive.
+
+Formerly all the ladies turned out to drive without bonnets or
+coverings of any sort on the head, but bowled along, seated in open
+carriages, in about the same style of evening dress they would appear
+in at a tertulia or the theatre, or, in fact, at a ball-room. They
+were in the habit of spreading a sort of gum, which washed easily
+off, over the hair after it had been dressed, in order to keep out
+the dust, &c.; but within the last two years several bonnets have
+made their appearance in the carriages at the drive, and I fear
+their general use will supersede the former fashion, which from its
+simplicity allowed their most striking beauties of eyes, hair, &c.,
+to be seen in a most charming manner.
+
+Many of the Creole girls have very handsome countenances, and there
+are not a few who would be remarked upon as fine women by the side of
+any European beauty: but they are generally seen to most advantage in
+the evening, as their chief attraction does not consist in freshness
+of complexion so much as in fine features, which are often full of
+character and lighted up by eyes as brilliant as they are soft. Their
+figures are good, and their feet and ankles quite unexceptionable,
+being generally very much more neatly turned than those of my
+handsomest countrywomen.
+
+As dress is a study which has a good deal of their attention, they
+appear to understand it pretty well, but show a marked fondness for gay
+colours, as no doubt their pale complexions require their aid more than
+when ruddy health is upon their cheeks. In the forenoon the skin of a
+Creole or Spanish beauty appears to be rather too pale to please the
+general taste; and sometimes their colour degenerates into sallowness,
+which I fancy may proceed from their fondness for chocolate, that being
+very largely consumed by all of them. This, and the want of exercise,
+communicated a somewhat bilious look to their appearance.
+
+Many ladies, especially those from the northern provinces of Spain,
+have sometimes the beautiful white skins and the ruddy freshness of
+complexion so much admired in my countrywomen; but, unfortunately,
+that colour is not very lasting, as the first season they pass in
+the Philippines is generally sufficient to blanch their bloom, but
+it is very often succeeded by a soft and delicate-looking paleness,
+which is perhaps not a whit less dangerous to amatory bachelors than
+the more brilliant colours which preceded it.
+
+Although lively and talkative enough, Spanish women seldom shine in
+conversation, which perhaps is more owing to the narrow and defective
+education they too often have in youth than to any natural want of
+the quickness and tact to talk well.
+
+Their manners are peculiarly soft and pleasing, and their lively
+ingenuousness is extremely seductive. Their accomplished management
+of the fan has made it peculiarly their own weapon, and it has been
+converted into an important auxiliary to their natural good looks,
+both in attack and defence. There are few things more striking to a
+stranger than to see the ladies use it at the casino, when a number
+of them are together, and while there is no want of men to admire the
+graceful movement of the hand. Mere children are constantly seen using
+it. It is a ludicrous thing to watch one of these little creatures
+going through a set of flirting motions with a fan, should you look
+at her, copying no doubt the motions or play with it from those of
+some grown-up sister or gay mamma.
+
+Foreign ladies seldom or never attain the same degree of dexterity
+and ease in the use of their fans, the climate they were born in not
+requiring that it should be placed in their hands at an early age.
+
+The dress of Spanish ladies is becoming every day more like the
+French modes, although some elderly people still continue to use the
+country dress, which, from its coolness, is much more comfortable than
+the European habit; but it is rapidly going out, and young Spanish
+ladies never appear to wear it, as formerly they frequently did,
+within doors and in the country.
+
+The mantilla is very rarely seen, except perhaps in the morning,
+when some fair penitent goes or returns from one of the churches,
+all of which are thrown open at a very early hour in the morning, at
+or before daylight, to give the people an opportunity of going there
+unostentatiously and unnoticed, to say their prayers and get home
+again before any one, but those on an errand similar to their own,
+is likely to meet them in the streets.
+
+Nearly all the women, after reaching thirty years of age, get stout
+or fall off in flesh and become very thin, for there apparently is
+very little medium between the two degrees, as nearly all the old
+women one sees are either very fat or very thin. Of the two sorts
+the fat retain their good looks the longest; for after attaining a
+certain age, the thin women are seldom anything but atrociously ugly,
+probably caused by the climate more than anything else, as those
+Europeans who enjoy good health at Manilla appear to become stout
+in that climate, while those who get thin seldom appear to be well,
+and are unable to stand a lengthened residence there.
+
+In youth, however, their natural elasticity of character prevents
+delicate girls getting sick, if moderate care be taken of them, and
+they are generally rather more slender figures than English girls,
+until reaching about twenty-five, when they begin to get fat or to
+become thin; at that age they look very matronly.
+
+_Apropos des dames._ Even in these degenerate days, Spanish blood
+is as hot and Castilian gentlemen are as gallant as any of those of
+former times. Not long ago the following circumstance happened at
+the casino:--Don Camilo de T----, a natural son of the late King of
+Spain, after dancing with a female acquaintance, rejoined a group
+of acquaintances, who were standing together in a knot, criticising
+the appearance of their several fair friends, when just as he joined
+them some one happened to say to another that the lady he had just
+been dancing with appeared to have padded her bosom. On hearing this,
+Don Camilo took the speaker rather by surprise, by calling out "It
+is a lie," in a tone loud enough to be heard by all near him, and by
+saying that as he had just been dancing with that lady, he knew that
+it was not so, and must resent the remark as a personal affront. A
+duel took place in consequence, in which the gallant was wounded
+in the sword arm, which, by letting out a little of his hot blood,
+may probably prevent a recurrence of such extreme devotion to his
+fair acquaintances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+As a body, such Spanish gentlemen as I have been acquainted with,
+appeared to be quite as remarkable for good breeding as they usually
+have the credit of being. They generally have a great appearance of
+candour or frankness of manner, which, although it is for the most
+part more studied than natural, is prepossessing, and makes them
+pleasant companions.
+
+Here, however, I am afraid my praise must stop, because I have seen
+among a great number of them a good deal of dissimulation, or,
+to speak more plainly, of bad faith,--with regard to which their
+modes of thinking are very different from those prevailing at home;
+and among their mercantile people especially, they often appear to
+imitate, or unconsciously to act upon a smart Yankee trader's modes
+of getting the best of a bargain, being very frequently rather too
+unscrupulous in their representations, when it appears to them that
+it is for their interest to be so.
+
+To give an idea of their opinions about the subject of buying and
+selling, I will tell the reader a story. A lad, the son of a high
+government officer, sold an unsound horse to a companion as a sound
+one, which, on being discovered by the purchaser, of course made him
+very indignant, and he demanded his money back, complaining at the same
+time to the boy's father, who passes for a person of high character
+and good sense, about the scurvy trick his son had played him. "Well,"
+said this respectable old gentleman, "I am glad to see that the lad
+is so sharp; for, if he could get the better of you so well, he will
+make a capital merchant, and be able to cheat the Chinamen!"
+
+Without exaggeration this is a good deal the system on which the
+Spaniards carry on business. They always appear to be trying to take
+advantage of a purchaser, and if successful have very complaisant
+consciences; but should they themselves be taken in, or have
+the worst of a bargain, their virtuous horror and indignation on
+discovering it know no bounds. There is very little, or almost none,
+of that mutual confidence existing between them which exists between
+British merchants, and which is so necessary in large transactions,
+or in carrying on an extensive business, as they do.
+
+The large number of government _empleados_ residing at Manilla makes
+an important addition to the society of the place, as, from being idle
+men to a great extent, they seek how to amuse and be amused, and are
+cultivators of the society of the English, whose dinner tables are
+probably the chief causes of the intercourse which exists between them.
+
+The entire white population in Manilla amounts to about 5,000, a large
+proportion of them being officers, sergeants, and corporals of the
+troops stationed either within the town, or in the immediate vicinity.
+
+All the officers are not, however, persons of European descent, as
+occasionally a black may be seen in an officer's uniform, and very
+frequently is to be found wearing a sergeant's or corporal's coat. But
+the natives promoted to the rank of commissioned officers are not many,
+and on the whole it is probably better for the army that few of them
+should be so, as were it a common occurrence, or were they allowed to
+rise to high rank, or to occupy important places, beyond a doubt the
+_morale_ of the troops would suffer; for when those men do rise from
+the ranks, they are not considered on an equality by their European
+brother officers, nor in fact do they consider themselves to be so,
+and have little or no intercourse with them, beyond the routine of
+their military duties.
+
+The appearance of the troops is good on the whole; but they appeared
+to me to be wanting in precision of movement, being by no means
+equal or similar to some of our best Sepoy soldiers. It is clear
+that frequently they have not been precisely drilled into all their
+attempted evolutions. The men, as individuals, are well and powerfully
+formed, although they are rather deficient in stature and soldierly
+appearance; they are naturally bold, and when lately tried against the
+Sooloos, evinced no want of resolution to follow, when their officers
+would lead them on. I have seen several of them suffer death with an
+admirable and even heroic composure, such as any man might envy when
+his last hour comes. It is not an unfrequent thing to see soldiers
+shot at Manilla for some misdemeanours, and I have not heard of one of
+them dying a poltroon; certainly, all those I have ever seen suffer,
+met their doom with the utmost calmness.
+
+The cavalry force, for the purposes of actual conflict, is about the
+most inefficient branch of the military establishment, being mounted
+on the ponies of the country, which stand on an average about twelve
+hands. But as irregulars they might be of some use. It always appeared
+to me that a single well-mounted squadron of our heavy dragoons could,
+without any difficulty, ride down the entire regiment. The Government
+is aware of the inactive state of the horses, their attention having
+been called thereto by my friend Captain de la O----, an officer of
+the force, who, in conjunction with the colonel of the regiment, has
+for some time past been occupied in investigations, and in preparing
+estimates of the probable expense of an attempt to improve the breed
+of horses by crossing them with Arab stallions, which it has for some
+time been in contemplation to send for to cover the country mares.
+
+It would probably be necessary for Government, in order to accomplish
+this successfully, to adopt a plan similar to that followed at the East
+India Company's breeding stables in Bengal, and should the project be
+followed out and properly managed, there can be no doubt but that it
+will be of the most essential importance to the government service,
+and a boon to the country.
+
+The horses of the Philippines are small, but for their inches
+uncommonly powerful, and sometimes fast. They do not appear to have
+any distinguishing peculiarity, except perhaps that the head of most
+of them is rather too large, and very rarely indeed is that feature
+quite perfect in any of the horses one meets with. At Manilla, and
+for a considerable distance round it, no mares are allowed to be used,
+which secures a higher and better looking horse in the neighbourhood
+of the capital than is met with in the interior of the country;
+none of them are geldings, and of course they are stronger and more
+playful in consequence.
+
+But to return to the service and the officers of it whom one meets in
+society. They are not fond of being sent to the colony, and although
+with about double the amount of pay they would receive at home,
+most of them would infinitely prefer remaining in Spain.
+
+After a term of service abroad they get a step in rank, which appears
+to be the main attraction to those who come to Manilla. Many of them
+are not very well educated men, and are therefore rather inferior to
+my countrymen of the same profession in that respect.
+
+A considerable proportion of them, perhaps an equal ratio to those
+of our army, are gentlemen, or persons of good birth and family
+connections. They are in general, however, poor, or at all events not
+over burdened with the good things of this life, and like soldiers
+of all nations and times, some of them have a certain notoriety for
+outrunning the constable, or for spending all that they can, which
+is generally merely their pay. Soon after reaching Manilla, I was
+accidentally thrown a good deal into their society, from chancing to
+meet with Don Francisco Caro, a pleasant and lively young lieutenant,
+at the house of my Spanish teacher, where he was as eager to learn
+English as I was to be able to speak good Spanish. We became intimate,
+and agreed to visit each other, he to talk in English to me, and I
+to him in Spanish,--a practice which very soon enabled us to pick
+up the languages, and saved a world of trouble in getting up tasks
+for a teacher, whom we were soon able to do without. The fact of my
+going frequently to his house, and taking part in the conversation of
+himself and the many friends with whom he made me acquainted, gave me
+a considerable facility in talking the language, from having gained
+a knowledge of it in this way in place of from a pedantic teacher,
+whose purisms were quite thrown away on one whose wish it was to
+speak it fluently, although it might be at some sacrifice of elegance.
+
+Here let me record my regret at the manner in which this old companion
+and friend met his untimely fate, which is not the less regretted
+because it proceeded from his own strong sense of duty and habitual
+gallantry of spirit--for this poor fellow was a true Spaniard in all
+his best qualities. Having been ordered into the provinces with a
+detachment on the very disagreeable service of hunting up a band of
+_tulisanes_, or robbers, the necessary exposure to the sun on such an
+expedition operated so severely on his constitution as to produce a
+very high fever; yet even in this state he would not succumb to it, but
+persisted in marching for several days at the head of his men, although
+they, on perceiving his condition, had several times endeavoured to
+persuade him to make use of a litter which they had framed for the
+purpose, and wished to carry him in. But he would not remain in it
+even when they almost forced him to use it, and would take no repose
+until after having accomplished his duty. In this he was successful,
+as he surprised and destroyed the robber band,--but the effort cost
+him his life, for he died solely from the effects of the unnatural
+exertion which he had undergone while the fever was raging within him.
+
+Your many amiable and good qualities yet live, Francisco, in the fond
+memories of former friends, although you are no longer among them; and
+your heroic death, while it chastens grief, has added another memento,
+and a laurel leaf to the wreath your brave Castilian ancestors left
+behind them, bequeathed to the care of one who knew so well how to
+value and protect it, and to add to its honour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+The Church is under the regulation of an Archbishop and four
+Bishops. The present Archbishop of Manilla, whose reputation for piety
+and good feeling towards all men stands very high, is an old soldier,
+who, after serving his king when a young man as lieutenant of cavalry
+for several years, changed his master, and assuming the habit of a
+priest, devoted himself to religion for the remainder of his life.
+
+There are about 500 parochial curacies throughout the islands under
+him in the four bishoprics, 167 of the curacies being situated in his
+own see; and several literary, charitable, and pious institutions at
+Manilla look up to him as their patron and head; among others may be
+mentioned the University of Santo Tomas, having chairs for students of
+Latin, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, canon law, theology, &c.
+
+As a body, the ministers of religion in the Philippines are not
+apparently so well educated a class as those of Great Britain,
+even in the education of the schools, and are possessed of less
+general information, of course, from the want of any periodical
+literature equal to that which we have, from whose sources much of
+the information, and some of the apparent learning of my countrymen
+are derived, at little cost of time or expense.
+
+However, many of the Spanish _padres_ are men of general and varied
+attainments, such as would adorn any church or station in life; but
+the greater number of them can scarcely claim so much, as, although
+they are all respectably educated, their attention for many years
+of their life has been directed chiefly to the prosecution of such
+studies as would influence their advancement in the Church, such as
+the canon law, church history, theology, &c., on a knowledge of which
+their consideration for accomplishments among themselves principally
+depends, I believe.
+
+Most of the priests I have been in contact with, appeared to be
+thoroughly convinced of, and faithful to their religion in its purity;
+and as a body, appear to be about as sincere and pious a class as
+clergymen at home.
+
+Occasionally, however, you meet with startling exceptions to this
+rule, which astonish any one accustomed to see the high regard to
+outward decency observed by the same cloth at home; for instance,
+it would be considered most reprehensible at home, for any clergyman
+to keep a mistress; and if the fact became known, would occasion his
+instant dismissal from his cure, and his expulsion from the Church.
+
+This is not so, however, in the Philippines, and may be seen at
+any time, especially among the Mestizo and native Indian priests,
+whose education is worse, and their ideas of religion much more
+vague, incorrect, and superstitious than those of the Spaniards;
+and sometimes, in the country parishes, an Indian or Mestizo _padre_
+is found openly living in the _convento_ or parsonage-house with his
+mistress and natural children. But frequently, in cases where a sense
+of decency prevents them doing this openly, one occasionally meets
+in their houses young half-caste children, who pass for the family
+of some brother or sister, although these had never any existence,
+and there is in reality little or no doubt as to the priest himself
+being their father.
+
+This state of things, however, is not the general state of the Church,
+although it may but too frequently be met with; and is not considered
+nearly so reprehensible as it would be, were they at liberty to marry,
+as Protestant clergymen are. In many cases its existence can scarcely
+fail to be known to their bishops, by whom however it appears to be
+winked at; and is not considered by the laity as being particularly
+scandalous, their notions on the subject being somewhat indefinite.
+
+Within a very short distance of Manilla, I have been in a convento
+where the priest, his mistress, and family all lived together, the
+padre being a Mestizo. On the village feast-day, one of the party
+with whom I was in the country, hired some jugglers who had come down
+from Bengal to act their wonderful tricks in the theatre at Manilla,
+and sent them out to Mariquina on the feast-day, there to amuse the
+people, and to please the padre, as he knew it would do, he being an
+old acquaintance of his. Accordingly, in the afternoon they exhibited
+to an immense crowd of natives, just before the open church-door. A
+platform had been quickly erected for their accommodation, from which
+they were exhibiting their tricks to the intense astonishment of the
+Indians, most of whom had never seen anything of the sort before;
+and in the evening, the padre having asked leave for the jugglers
+to come to the convento, gave a great party to all the Spaniards,
+or white men, who were then in the pueblo, in order to watch their
+tricks more closely than could be done at a public exhibition.
+
+Several Spanish ladies were present, and among them, quite as a matter
+of course, was the mistress of the priest. One or two of the ladies
+present were wives of high officials at Manilla, and all of them were
+persons of the best character and standing, yet they did not appear in
+the least discomposed by her presence, although none of them paid her
+any attention, or noticed her as the lady of the house; in fact, she
+appeared to be regarded by them as a sort of privileged housekeeper
+more than in any other light, although they were perfectly aware
+of the irregularity of her life. This may give some idea of their
+modes of thinking of such affairs, for all of them present perfectly
+understood the relation in which the spiritual adviser of so large
+a population as that of Mariquina stood to her.
+
+Both the priest and she were elderly people, and their intercourse
+has, I understood, been of long standing; and during the course of it
+several children have been born. But the most wonderful thing appears
+to be, how such a man could direct the worship of his parishioners,
+or lay before them the scripture tenets of his and their faith,
+while openly violating it before their eyes. But the same thing has
+taken place in Europe not unfrequently, and quite as openly, without
+exciting excessive scandal in many places.
+
+There is an immense deal more of immorality among the clergy of
+all denominations and countries than would be believed. Alas, for
+human nature!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+The site of Manilla is low-lying and level, and as the country in
+the vicinity of the capital is of the same nature, being covered by
+far stretching paddy fields, it presents few picturesque attractions,
+in order to enjoy which, and the verdure, freshness, and variety of
+an undulating landscape, excursions are frequently made to various
+places at some short distance from the town, and during some period
+of each year, most of the foreign merchants have latterly got into
+the plan of renting houses within driving distance, and of spending
+most of the dry season in them, going and returning frequently, or
+generally daily, to their counting-houses, so long as the roads are
+passable. The village of Mariquina, about seven miles from Manilla,
+is the most favourite place of resort, although the road to it is
+very bad, but it presents the attractions of very good pure air and
+water, and a bright landscape. Those persons who are not fond of horse
+exercise, make use of American light spider-carriages, drawn by a pair
+of ponies, as that sort of vehicle is found to be the only conveyance
+capable of standing the ruts and jolting over these country paths,
+which would to a certainty break the springs of any other description
+of carriage I have ever seen.
+
+Owing to their great lightness and strength, these spider-carriages
+are favourite conveyances here, and these qualities render them by
+much the most suitable description for the country.
+
+In the neighbourhood of Mariquina, the country is in many respects
+picturesque and fine; a more lovely _coup d'oeil_ is seldom seen,
+than that which may be witnessed from the road at the top of the hill
+just before beginning the descent leading past the old Jesuit Convent,
+a partly ruinous building, now known by the name of the Hacienda;
+from that point, looking down on the valleys which burst on the view
+at once, especially at the season when they are waving with the ripe
+and yellow grain, or clothed in a beautiful coat of green,--on the
+fine river, peacefully winding through them, on the splendid old trees
+covered with green and luxuriant foliage, which are interspersed and
+dot the scene, across to the distant hills, clothed in all the glories
+of a tropical sunset or sunrise, and varied by the many tints of light
+and shade of brilliant colours, it often is a sight truly worthy of
+being witnessed for its glowing beauty.
+
+At Mariquina, there is a well, the water of which has the reputation
+of curing many sorts of disease, more especially those of the skin,
+and many are the sufferers who visit it in the hope that bathing in
+the trough into which the spring drops, may cure their ailments. The
+water is slightly tepid and not disagreeable to drink, being tasteless,
+and is recommended for diseases of the kidneys and stomach, by the
+Manilla doctors.
+
+Some miles beyond Mariquina, there is a most curious cave, of great
+extent, at the village of San Mateo, which is well worthy of a visit
+by the curious. Shortly after entering it, the height of the cavern
+rises to about fifty feet, although it varies continually,--so much
+so, that at some places there is scarcely height enough for a man
+to sit upright. The formations within are of a singular character,
+resembling sometimes immense icicles pendant from the roof to within
+a few feet of the floor, or in some places rising from the ground
+like ever-growing pyramids, as from the dropping water they are
+continually increasing. These pillars of stalactite are extremely hard
+and difficult to splinter, even after repeated blows with a hammer,
+some of them being beautifully milk white, while others appear rather
+discoloured from some cause. Several of the columns hanging from the
+roof may measure about a yard or more in circumference, their forms
+being sometimes most curious and fantastic, one stalk expanding as
+it descended, looked not unlike a gigantic leaf springing from its
+slender arm.
+
+From the main cave there are several openings diverging and leading
+to chambers similar to the main room, by some openings at the sides
+of which the dropping water is drained off.
+
+The temperature within the cavern was 77°, and without 86°, being a
+very considerable change, even in the cool of the evening, on coming
+out of it, just after sunset. I am afraid to give an estimate as to
+the extent of this immense cave, it requires, however, five or six
+hours to partially see its curiosities, and of course would take far
+more time to investigate it properly. The only living creatures met
+within it, appear to be bats, which are not very numerous. Should a
+sportsman visit the place for several days, his gun will generally
+procure him some venison and wild pig to feast upon, or to present
+to the village priest, or to forward to his Mariquina or Manilla
+acquaintances. At Boroboso, also, some distance from Mariquina, he
+is sure of finding similar game, and in greater quantity than at San
+Mateo, where it is too much poached.
+
+The great want he will experience is that of trained dogs, those
+used by the Indians being nearly useless, as after alarming the game
+by their noise, they can't hunt it with any thing like spirit. Some
+few Kangaroo dogs, however, brought from Sydney, have been eagerly
+purchased by the Indian sportsmen, and are said to be an immense
+improvement on those of the country, although I have never seen their
+performances in the field; from their speed and strength, however,
+they appear more than a match for the deer of the islands, which are
+small-sized and greatly inferior in strength to those of the Highlands
+of Scotland.
+
+The race of dogs formerly known as Manilla bloodhounds has become quite
+extinct, although some descendants of a half-bred progeny still remain,
+being a cross between them and the street curs. Although they possess
+some of the fierce and savage qualities of the old hound, it is in
+a much inferior degree to that of the genuine breed, whose size and
+appearance was very much finer than any of the mongrels now to be seen.
+
+The old breed were so fierce as to be absolutely unsafe when at
+liberty, and always required to be chained up. Several years ago two
+fine dogs of the old breed were procured with considerable trouble,
+and at some expense sent to England, to a gentleman fond of dogs.
+
+He gave orders to keep them at all times on the chain, during which
+they behaved so well, that a groom, going out to air a horse one
+morning, unloosed the chain of one of them, and took him along
+with him.
+
+The dog remained quiet enough till happening to meet another man,
+also airing a pair of skittish horses,--the capering of the horses,
+or something else, roused the brute's savage nature, and he sprang
+on one of them like a tiger, fastening on his flank, and sucking
+his blood so greedily that all the two men could do did not make the
+savage beast quit his hold, till gorged with the blood of the victim.
+
+The horse was spoiled for ever, or, I believe, died from the
+hemorrhage, and as he chanced to be a valuable one, which, of course,
+the owner of the dog had to pay for, he was so disgusted at having to
+do so, that he made both of them be shot at once, in order to prevent
+any possibility of the recurrence of such an accident.
+
+The only other dog at Manilla besides the worthless street cur, is a
+sort of ladies' poodle, with long and silky white hairs; their fine
+coats only making them favorites, as they are good for nothing else
+than women's pets.
+
+The smaller these are, when full grown, the more they are esteemed;
+their white hair should be entirely free from any spots of black or
+brown, these being generally the mark of a mongrel breed.
+
+They are so delicate, that few of them can stand a sea-voyage,
+and all those I have ever sent away from Manilla, to any distance,
+have died before reaching their destination. A well-bred dog of this
+breed of middling size, is about as large as a full grown tom-cat,
+or a little bigger.
+
+It has always appeared to me a most curious and inexplicable fact,
+that when good dogs are sent out from home to a hot climate such as
+this, they invariably are found to deteriorate to an uncommon extent,
+the heat causing them to lose their spirit, and also their scent. But,
+in fact, the animal in perfection, or, as he has been truly called
+at home, "the most intelligent of beasts, and the companion of man,"
+is only found in some places of Europe to be such.
+
+In all tropical countries he is no longer so, becoming, even should
+a good breed be introduced there from Europe, very much inferior in a
+few generations in all respects to what we have him in Great Britain,
+where they appear to be found in the greatest perfection.
+
+In hot climates the dog has not the same strength or swiftness, nor
+is he of equal courage, sincerity, and gentleness of character which
+peculiarly distinguish him from all other animals at home. Among
+orientals he is no longer treated in the same manner as he is in
+Europe, nor in fact does his character, as it exists among them,
+deserve equal kindness to that usually shown this faithful animal
+in Britain; but in Asia he is driven from their households by the
+Mohammedans and Hindoos alike, being regarded by them all as useless,
+and a pest.
+
+In China, he is fattened for the table, and the flesh of dogs is
+as much liked by them as mutton is by us, being exposed for sale by
+their butchers and in their cook-shops.
+
+At Canton, I have seen the hind quarters of dogs hanging up in the
+most prominent parts of their shops exposed for sale.
+
+They are considered in China as a most dainty food, and are consumed
+by both the rich and the poor.
+
+The breeds common in that country are apparently peculiar to itself,
+and they are apparently objects of more attention to their owners
+than elsewhere in Asia, the Celestials perhaps having an eye to their
+tender haunches, which bad treatment would toughen and spoil. They do
+not appear to be of greater sagacity than the other tropical breeds,
+although more bulky and stronger-looking than most of the other sorts
+I have seen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+All strangers coming to Manilla should endeavour to make an excursion
+to the great inland lake, or Laguna de Bay, as it is likely well to
+repay the inconvenience one has to stand in such an excursion from
+exposure to the sun, &c. The lake is of very considerable extent,
+measuring, I think, about twenty-eight miles at its greatest length,
+by about twenty-two at its extreme breadth; it is formed by an
+amphitheatre of mountains, the various streams from which feed it;
+and its opening or outlet forms the origin of the river Pasig, which,
+bathing the walls of the fortress of Santiago and the capital of the
+Philippines, flows into the arm of the sea called Manilla Bay.
+
+About Christmastide there are many visitors to the lake, as from the
+then cooler season the necessary exposure to the heat of a midday sun
+in a slightly-covered boat is comparatively innocuous, and much less
+disagreeable than it would prove at any other time of the year.
+
+Several foreigners are in the habit of making an annual excursion
+there from Manilla to spend these holidays, during which there is no
+other amusement in town than church-going and procession-staring.
+
+Having made arrangements to visit the lake either by starting from
+Manilla in a large Pasig banca or prow, which although more tedious
+than driving to the village of Guadaloupe, near Pasig, and then taking
+the water, is, I think, the better plan of the two, as the river
+scenery is well worth seeing, and there are no inconveniences such
+as are inseparable from that of changing conveyances at Guadaloupe,
+&c. When I started, my companion, who luckily happened to be an
+experienced man in such affairs, having at different times of his
+life roamed through the backwoods of Canada, and over the plains of
+Australia, recommended the water conveyance for the whole distance,
+as we were not pushed for time; and the excursion turned out to be one
+of the pleasantest I have ever been engaged in, from the satisfactory
+nature of his arrangements and his own hilarity and good-natured
+usefulness; for of course he had not knocked about so much without
+acquiring some _savoir faire_, so desirable in a companion during
+such an excursion.
+
+On Christmas eve we went together to a large dancing party or ball,
+given by an old and rich Mestizo, at whose house we kept up dancing
+and enjoying ourselves till about midnight; shortly before which all
+the men started, in company with the ladies, to the parish church of
+San Sebastian, there to hear a midnight mass, and welcome in the sacred
+anniversary by saying our prayers. The spectacle was rather a fine one;
+and on looking at the devout up-turned features of my fair companion,
+when kneeling at her devotions, I could scarcely believe that she was
+the good-natured, lively Mestiza girl I had been flirting with not
+five minutes before; but after half an hour's worship, which, to do
+them justice, was apparently of the most sincere and heartfelt kind,
+the fair penitents returned to the supper room with a number of the
+heretics, and afterwards, notwithstanding all their prayers, danced
+with us, being quite as lively and as full of flirting as before their
+visit to church. We stopped till about three o'clock in the morning,
+when, being thoroughly tired of the heated rooms, my companion and I
+resolved to enter the boat which had been engaged for the occasion,
+and in which clothes, provender, &c., had previously been embarked,
+and left under charge of a servant, Fernando, at a landing-place
+from the river, near the house where we had been invited to pass the
+evening. Taking the precaution to eat a hearty supper, to keep out
+the night air, on arriving at the boat, and wrapping ourselves up in
+our blankets, we both very speedily began to enjoy the rest necessary
+for next day's exertions; and having previously secured our crew of
+five picked men to pull, we were rapidly approaching the Laguna when
+we awoke, and daylight had just rested on their oars next morning;
+after breakfast, and a bath in the cool and delicious water of the
+river above Pasig, we quickly passed by the pateros or villages for
+breeding ducks, situated among the swamps at the outlets of the lake,
+and the beginning of the river.
+
+Several of these duck villages can scarcely be said to be situated on
+_terra firma_, as many of the _nipa_ or attap-houses are founded on
+the supporting trunks of trees growing out of the sedgy swamp. The
+houses have a small lower platform of bamboo on two sides, for a
+cooking-place and for landing from a boat, below and around being trees
+or bamboos growing out of the water. Many of these clumps of bamboo,
+some of which attain a great height, occasionally, perhaps, as much as
+150 feet, are from their numbers a peculiar feature in the landscape
+of the Philippines, and form some of the most beautiful objects of
+luxuriant vegetation that can be imagined for a landscape. They are
+found growing wild, very grand and fresh-looking in all parts of
+the country, and are of many varieties, some of which any one may be
+acquainted with who takes the trouble to consult the good old Padre
+Blanco's book on the _flora de Filipiñas_.
+
+At the pateros, near the entrance to the Laguna, the people breed large
+flocks of ducks to supply the Manilla market, to the exclusion of all
+other employment except, perhaps, catching and drying enough fish to
+season their rice, which most of them purchase, and very few of them
+grow. These Indians, although few in number, are to a considerable
+extent isolated from the people of the country, from what cause I
+know not, but they very rarely associate or intermarry except with
+each other. The ducks they breed for the market are well trained,
+being perfectly obedient to the call of their different masters,
+and on hearing his signal come quickly sailing back, should they have
+gone too far away. They get fat on the fish and tender sedgy grass,
+and when placed on the dinner-table are very good eating.
+
+After entering the lake, which is studded with wooded islets, the
+largest of which is named Talim, the gun is called into requisition,
+as the immense flocks of wild duck breeding here afford a constant
+sport, and the advantages of their acquisition are not likely to be
+overlooked either by the _gourmand_ or the hungry tourist. They are,
+however, rather wild, and the best mode of shooting them appears
+to be to dress in a blue cotton shirt and trousers like an Indian,
+and paddle off as near the flock as they will permit; and then for a
+chance among them. If there is more than one person in the grass-boat,
+which is a very small and unhooded banca, which the natives use for
+carrying small quantities of grass for horses, &c., the ducks are
+apt to take the alarm, although I have sometimes been successful in
+getting near them with an Indian paddling the boat.
+
+Besides the ducks there are several other kinds of wild fowl,
+and on coasting round the shores of Talim, an alligator basking
+in the sun, frequently offers a mark for a ball, which, however,
+seldom proves fatal. I struck one on the scales without producing
+any apparent damage, the distance being probably about thirty yards,
+and he merely shook himself a little and tumbled into the water from
+off the rock he had been sleeping on, without seeming much startled
+or to be in the least wounded. They are said to reach an immense age,
+and the most incredible stories are told, and apparently believed,
+by the natives themselves of their traditional longevity.
+
+On Talim some deer and pigs may now and then be seen, although it
+is too much frequented and disturbed to be at all a sure cover for
+them; my companion shot a very beautiful variety of the hawk on the
+island. After enjoying the hospitality of M. Vidie, an old French
+planter at Jalajala, we set off in the direction of Tanay, whence we
+had heard good reports of the game.
+
+During a strong monsoon there is sometimes a heavy swell on the
+water of the Laguna, and occasionally boats are swamped or upset,
+so that frequently when we used to go out in our Pasig banca it was
+against the will of our boatmen; but like true and stubborn Britons,
+we always insisted upon having our own way, although the boatmen, who
+certainly knew most about it, used to predict that we should all be
+swamped to a certainty, but a well-trimmed and moderately well-handled
+boat can go through any sea, and it is generally from want of care that
+accidents occur. On one occasion in Manilla Bay, I have been swamped
+solely from that cause, and the fright of a companion, whose alarm
+induced the catastrophe by diverting the men's attention. However,
+as an American whaler was luckily near and saw our situation, they
+lowered a whale-boat and picked us up.
+
+At the lake, in stormy weather, we used to go out with two men
+steering the boat, each with a powerful paddle, and the remainder
+of the crew managing the sail. Sometimes we got half full of water,
+which it was the duty of the boy Fernando to bale out, but when he got
+seasick and tired, we both set to to keep her free. On one occasion
+of the sort, my chum Adam, taking pity on the forlorn condition of
+the puking Fernando, recommended to him frequent sips from a bottle
+of brandy, to keep away the retching; the hint was not thrown away,
+and the lad lay down in the bottom of the boat, looking as miserable
+as possible, and quite sick, utterly forgetful or unconscious of the
+soiled condition of the splendid piña shirt which he wore at the time;
+although in his hours of ease it commonly attracted a large proportion
+of his regard and self-complacency. After many sips, apparently, the
+brandy produced the desired effect, as my follower ceased to project
+his mouth, every now and then, over the side of the banca, but had
+sunk into a sound sleep, caused, we imagined, by the exhaustion and
+lassitude subsequent to sea-sickness; and so he remained till our
+approaching Tanay, when the sail was lowered, and he roused up and
+left to bring our luggage up to the Casa Real, or townhouse, where
+there is always a chamber and bedstead for strangers. For that place
+we started, leaving him to follow.
+
+After waiting some time impatiently, we were rather surprised to
+see two of the boatmen marching up with Fernando, who gave tokens of
+extreme lassitude and unsteadiness of gait, showing at times, when
+he raised his drooping head, an attempt to shake off his conductors,
+who were on these little manifestations reinforced by two of their
+companions, who followed them, bearing our portmanteaus; and at length
+the procession would move on again. After some difficulty they got
+him into the Casa Real, where one of the men, spreading a mat upon
+the floor, laid him down on it, staring wildly about him. After
+contemplating him for a few seconds, he turned to me, and, inverting
+the mouth of an empty bottle, to prove satisfactorily that it was
+empty of the _vieux cognac_, which was marked on the label, laid it
+down beside him, saying, "Es muy boracho, Senor, pero es valiente."
+
+And so resulted the cure of sea-sickness by brandy, of which the lad
+had taken such a dose as to shake him severely, although a strong
+young fellow, for several days after it; in fact, we both became
+afraid of him, and vowed never again to recommend the medicine,
+except in quantities less than a bottle at a time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+Adam W---- having on a former shooting expedition been at Tanay,
+had at the time made the acquaintance of some of the townspeople,
+who had shown him all the attentions in their power; so that soon
+after our arrival, having dressed and refreshed at the Casa Real,
+we sallied out together to call on several of his old acquaintances,
+hoping to obtain from some of them such information and assistance
+as would help us discovering the whereabouts of a good huntsman and
+guide, in order that we might avail ourselves of his local knowledge
+in selecting the best district of the neighbourhood for sport.
+
+On entering the house of the Fiel of Tobacco, we were most hospitably
+received and warmly invited to take quarters there during our residence
+in Tanay; and as the offer was much too good to be refused, even
+had it been less warmly backed by the unequivocal demonstrations
+of welcome than those which they evinced, it was at once accepted,
+with not the less good-will because there was only the Casa Real
+to sleep in had we chosen to refuse it, which assuredly no one who
+had the fear of bugs, fleas, or musquitoes before his eyes would do,
+these animals being of the utmost size and activity in every one of
+the Casas Reales I have ever slept in.
+
+After some conversation with our host, who was rather a fine-looking
+Spanish Mestizo, as to our plans, &c., he most good-naturedly set
+off to seek a huntsman whom he recommended as a guide, leaving us in
+the meantime to the society of his wife--a strapping native beauty,
+although somewhat swarthy, full of good nature and the gossip of the
+place. From her, Adam soon learned all about his former acquaintances,
+and among others of the Capitan Tomas, his buxom wife, and pretty
+daughter, who we were told was considered the beauty of the town.
+
+After their names had been mentioned with that addition, he got
+rather impatient all of a sudden for a stroll about the town; so we
+started together, after paying a visit to our portmanteaus and the
+still insensible Fernando, at the town-house, where my friend armed
+himself with a bottle of eau de Cologne, a box of which I found that
+he carried about with him for distribution among such native beauties
+as he was ambitious of standing well with, for they were sure to like
+this perfume, which his experience of the country taught him was seldom
+procurable in such out-of-the-way places, and to a dead certainty
+always procured him favour in the eyes of the unsophisticated fair,
+whom he taught how to use it.
+
+For this it was that he had hinted something about thieves and the
+state of Fernando, and proposed looking in to see if the portmanteaus
+were still safe at the Casa Real, so I resolved to be revenged
+for the double dealing of his proposal upon seeing the top of the
+Cologne bottle peeping out from his shooting-jacket pocket. I watched
+a chance, and snatched it away without being noticed, determined that
+the half-caste beauty whose praises he was so eloquent in during our
+promenade, should not have him to thank it for at all events.
+
+We reached the house, and were well received by the Capitan, who
+pressed us to stop with him, and when he found we were engaged, invited
+us to pass next day with him, which, as the beauty was looking her very
+best, there was great risk of our doing, in preference to prosecuting
+our pig-shooting scheme, as had been originally intended. Poor Adam was
+evidently smitten by her attractions. After talking with these good
+people for some time, I observed that his attention was engrossed
+in watching Rita's movements, when, as the Capitan, his wife, and
+myself were all standing at an open window, looking at the flowers in
+his garden, and talking away, and their daughter, occupied in some
+household duty, was leaving the sala, Adam, who had been watching
+like a lynx for such an opportunity, seized it on the moment, and
+managed to slip away from us, and get out of the room after her, in
+the hopes of being able to snatch a kiss or something of the sort,
+and to present the scented water, which he had not missed from his
+pocket, although as he slipped away in all the agitation of pursuit,
+I saw first one hand and then the other slipped into the pockets of
+the coat where it should have been; but he was so much engaged in
+getting out of the room quickly and silently, that he did not miss
+it. Reaching the open door just as she had gone out, when about two
+paces beyond it, he popped his head over her shoulder unobserved, and
+stole a kiss; I heard the smack, then a rustle, and then a titter,
+during which Adam was searching his pockets for the missing bottle,
+which of course he did not find there; and when he said something
+or other about the kiss, he foolishly, in his search for it, told
+her that he had lost so very desirable a present; upon which, as he
+afterwards told me, the beauty looked saucy, and very plainly did
+not believe a word about it, but fancied he had invented the story to
+excuse the kiss, and pretended to get a little angry with the liberty
+taken with her blooming cheek; so she walked off, and left him quite
+at a loss to account for its disappearance.
+
+Before leaving, I took an opportunity of presenting the missing bottle
+at a time when the owner of it was not by, and fancied, from the blush
+which gave additional beauty to her cheek as I did so, that with the
+natural quickness of a woman and a beauty, she had read the stratagem
+played off on poor Adam; so she frankly offered me the same reward,
+by presenting her blooming lips to be kissed, even by so very recent
+an acquaintance.
+
+On making arrangements for a shooting party, it is quite necessary to
+hire beaters to drive the game, which there would be little chance
+otherwise of sighting, without undergoing more walking than most
+people find pleasant under a tropical sun.
+
+Having had the precaution to bring our own saddles with us, some
+miserable-looking ponies were procured, and started with a guide at
+an early hour in the morning, along a path formed for the most part,
+up and down thickly wooded hills, the road being sometimes a dry
+watercourse, or mountain stream.
+
+However, we got over the ground, passing through a beautiful country,
+and arrived at the meet after a four hours' ride, the place appointed
+being a hut belonging to the huntsman, and surrounded by three paddy
+fields, which he tilled, with his family, but did not live there,
+except at planting and reaping time, or for about six weeks of the
+year, from fear of the tulisanes, who, he said, frequented this
+wild and uninhabited neighbourhood. This is a frequent effect of the
+bad police of the Philippines, as much of the country that might be
+most advantageously cultivated, is abandoned to the jungle, solely
+from fear of these robbers, who sometimes add to their plundering
+propensities crimes of a more atrocious dye.
+
+After some good sport with deer and pigs, which constituted the supper
+of ourselves and all the beaters, night was very welcome, and seldom,
+indeed, did either of us enjoy repose more than in this hut, although
+through the holes in the grass walls of it the wind was whistling,
+and near us the beaters were noisily carousing, miscellaneously,
+upon sherry, cognac, and beer, it mattered not which to them, for we
+had presented some bottles of each, in order to celebrate the good
+day's sport.
+
+Next morning we heard of a wild cimmarone (or buffalo) having been
+seen in the neighbourhood some days previously, and endeavoured to
+find out his whereabouts, but none of the scouts could get a trace of
+him. Although these splendid animals are occasionally found in the
+country, they are not very common, and their reputation for savage
+ferocity is so great, that few of the Indians like to shoot them,
+because, if merely wounded without being disabled, they are certain
+to charge the hunter, which is more than Oriental nerves are fond of.
+
+Monkeys chattering in the trees are very common; but I never shot
+any of them, having, in truth, an antipathy to kill a brute with a
+shape so nearly human.
+
+Near this end of the lake few Europeans ever go, as it is quite out
+of the beaten track, which leads them in an opposite direction, to
+look down the crater of a volcano, generally simmering, but seldom
+boiling over to such an extent as to spout lava to any distance.
+
+Calamba and Calawan are also places they usually go to see; at
+the latter of which, there is a cotton-spinning mill, the property
+of a Mestizo, who dresses like a Spaniard, and no doubt wishes to
+be considered such. The machinery employed is of Belgian or French
+make, and of a very simple construction, and far from being equal to
+the sort now used at home for the purpose; but is considered by its
+owner to be the only sort that would answer well there, as it can be
+kept in order, and even, I believe, put into repair on occasion by a
+native blacksmith, who acts as engineer, which could not, of course,
+be the case were machinery of a finer and more complex and elaborate
+construction employed, as that would render a staff of good European
+workmen essential to keep it in order and good repair, and their pay
+in this climate, would run away with all the profits of the adventure.
+
+The yarn produced is of the coarser descriptions, and is only saleable
+to the native weavers of cotton cloth, by the excessive duty put on
+grey cotton twist of British manufacture, which is 40 per cent. on a
+high _ad valorem_ valuation if imported by a Spanish ship, and 50 per
+cent. if by any foreign vessel, amounting virtually to a prohibition
+on its importation.
+
+At the village of Los Baños, on the shores of the laguna, there are
+some hot springs, flowing into baths cut out of the natural rock.
+
+The temperature of the water as it issues from the rock is sufficient
+to boil an egg; but not having a thermometer, we were unable to
+ascertain it more exactly. As it mixes with the cool water of the
+laguna, however, the heat decreases, and at sunrise on a cool morning
+forms just there a very pleasant bath. The baths, from which the place
+is named, having for long been little frequented by invalids, are now
+in a semi-ruinous state. In cases of debility they are said to be most
+beneficial, and the old Manilla doctor, Don Lorenzo Negrao, whose long
+experience of the country and of the diseases incidental to it is most
+valuable, in such cases sometimes recommends his patients to try these
+baths for some peculiar diseases, and once recommended them to me.
+
+The great mistake of our doctors in India is dosing their patients
+with calomel, which, although necessary in some cases, where it is the
+only medicine powerful enough to arrest the rapid strides with which
+disease advances in tropical countries, is too often had recourse to,
+when simples would be just as effective. And this mistake of theirs is
+equalled, in bad effects only, by the practice of the Spanish doctors,
+who will never administer calomel at all, even in the most urgent
+cases, as they prefer trusting altogether to simple remedies for a
+cure, and if a patient dies who has had calomel administered to him,
+do not hesitate to tell the practitioner who gave it that the medicine
+killed him.
+
+Within the tropics lengthened residence is the most essential
+qualification in a medical attendant, as although old men may not be
+so well up to the latest improvements of the science as those fresh
+from college, yet they have from practice found out the best way of
+treating tropical diseases, to which the treatment applicable in a
+London, Edinburgh, or Paris hospital in similar cases, would be quite
+out of place when practised in so different a climate as the tropics,
+where the symptoms vary and succeed each other with ten times the
+rapidity they do in Europe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+Before leaving Manilla on a lengthened country excursion, it is always
+desirable to procure introductions to the priests of the district you
+are going to visit, which may be effected with very little difficulty
+by almost any of your Spanish acquaintances. As although they are
+in general a most hospitable class of men, and usually invite any
+respectable looking European whom chance may throw in their way, to
+sleep at the convento if he be passing the night at their village,
+yet without an introduction one remains always a stranger to them,
+and sees nothing of their usual habits or modes of life.
+
+Sometimes their good-nature is put to a trial by the eccentricities
+of their British guests, and some odd incidents happen. A good story
+is told of one of the former British merchants of the place, who
+having taken it into his head to make an excursion, before starting
+provided himself with letters of recommendation from the Archbishop
+of Manilla, to whom he paid court by loans of newspapers, addressed
+to the parish priests, and set off with these in his pocket, finding
+them of the greatest service in insuring a welcome wherever he went,
+being described therein in the most favourable colours, by the high
+church dignitary.
+
+One day, after a long and fatiguing ride, he arrived, about two in the
+afternoon, in a very ravenous state, at a convent or parsonage. On
+ascending the stairs of the convento, the first thing which met the
+eyes of the hungry traveller was a table neatly arranged for the
+padre's dinner, who, he was informed by the servants, would be back
+in about an hour to dine. An hour still--why it seemed to be a century
+since he had broken his fast; however, he waited for what appeared to a
+hungry man to be a long time, but in reality was probably ten minutes,
+when, losing all patience at the non-appearance of the priest, whose
+house he had so coolly taken possession of, he told the boys to put
+something to eat on the table, and they, apparently mistaking his
+meaning, in a trice served up the good priest's half-cooked dinner,
+which, without the delay of asking any questions, he proceeded to
+devour. In a very short space of time he had cleared away the best
+part of it, and was beginning to relax in his exertions, as the good
+effects of a hearty meal began to mollify his craving stomach, in
+fact he was just beginning to attack the last relic of a fat capon,
+which formed the main battle of the dishes set out before him, when
+a heavy footstep was heard on the stairs, and in another instant the
+gaunt figure of the priest himself stood before the empty plates on the
+dinner table, and the unknown and unexpected guest, whose jaws were at
+the moment occupied in masticating the last morsel of the fat fowl,
+which the father had ordered for himself, and looking forward to it
+had caused him to take a lengthened promenade, in order to promote
+appetite. Imagine the scene--but whether the good padre's momentary
+wrath, and then utter astonishment and indignation, or the guest's
+embarrassment, were greatest--or the most ludicrous, it would be hard
+to determine. For some time they merely looked at each other, without
+speaking--the priest, probably, because he could not articulate--and
+his guest, perhaps, because his mouth was full--till the absurdity of
+the whole affair apparently striking them both at once, they mutually
+broke out into laughter, the violence of which threatened to convulse
+them. From this, however, the padre was the first to recover, when the
+intruder, mastering his muscles, regained his countenance so far as
+to be able to mutter something in the shape of an apology, in which,
+probably, the word "starvation" was the only one intelligible; after
+it had been good-humouredly received, and the priest had welcomed the
+strange guest, the Archbishop's letter was produced as his credentials,
+but not till then. And afterwards they passed the evening together in
+the old convento, which, as the evening advanced, rang to many a merry
+laugh and jest about the affair in which both had figured so awkwardly.
+
+The caprices of all the visitors to the country are not, however,
+so harmless; it is not long since a party of young men, headed by one
+notorious for his love of fun, and what are called practical jokes,
+chartered a _chatta_, or covered cargo boat, of from 25 to 30 tons,
+and having put two carronades on board of her, set sail for the laguna,
+and while there amused themselves by bearing down, after nightfall,
+on the villages and towns on its banks, and bombarding them with the
+guns, taking care, however, not to do harm or to kill any one, either
+by not shooting the guns, or if there was a ball in one of them, by
+aiming it a little over the houses, so as not to damage them. On the
+noise made by the guns being heard, and the flash seen so close to them
+in the dark nights, the whole male population of the place would turn
+out in haste to repel the attack of this supposed band of tulisanes,
+arming themselves with any sort of weapon, and getting the women and
+children out of harm's way by sending them off--and probably an urgent
+despatch would be forwarded by the gobernadorcillo of the village to
+the governor of the province, if he lived within some few miles of
+him, requesting assistance--or detailing the flight of the robbers,
+who, on seeing the determination and force of the villagers prepared
+to defend their hearths, had not ventured to attempt landing, but had
+sailed away without having been able to do any damage to the pueblo.
+
+These midnight bombardments were repeated so frequently as to lead the
+local authorities to make great efforts to put down the daring troop
+of robbers who bearded them at their very doors at the town of Santa
+Cruz, near which the Governor lives, and kept the country people,
+who had begun to talk about them, in a state of constant alarm.
+
+Notwithstanding all their efforts to discover the hiding-place of the
+band, nothing could be found out about them, no one ever imagining
+that the party of gentlemen in the chatta could be at all mixed up
+with them--in fact, the well-intentioned alcalde of the province,
+hearing that such a party was visiting the lake, sent off a _ministro_
+to give them information about the desperate band of tulisanes who
+were lurking in the neighbourhood, and advised them to be upon their
+guard against an attack; for which attention they of course thanked
+him, and assured the envoy that it was for that reason only they had
+provided themselves with the two formidable looking pieces of ordnance
+which he saw in the boat.
+
+They were not found out to have been representing the parts of the
+supposed tulisanes, till, on their return to Manilla, where people
+had heard of the disturbances in the province of the Laguna by these
+robbers, and were talking about it, the story somehow got wind, and,
+when it was known who had caused so much trouble, of course there
+was a general laugh at the local authorities.
+
+Lucky enough it was, however, that the affair rested there, as all
+of the party might have suffered severely for their amusement and
+fondness for carronading. It only caused the government to increase
+their strictness in giving passports to the country, which now were
+only conceded on the pleas of urgent business, or of ill health when
+that was backed by a medical certificate; the alcalde also became
+more strict in seeing that all travellers through the province were
+provided with these documents.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+In the course of these excursions to the country, the native Indians,
+with a stray half-breed, generally of the China Mestizo race, are
+nearly the only people met with, as few Europeans are settled in the
+provinces, except in the provincial capitals, or near the alcalde,
+whose dependents they generally are. Should a stranger be able to
+speak to the natives in their own language, he has a much better
+opportunity of becoming acquainted with their character, habits,
+and feelings, than if he is merely able to speak Spanish, a language
+which only a very small proportion of them understand in the country,
+although most of those in the neighbourhood of Manilla can speak
+it after a fashion. For although the law makes it requisite for the
+Capitan of every pueblo to be able to speak as well as to read and
+write Spanish, yet this is not always the case, as I have frequently
+met with these officials, more especially in out-of-the-way places,
+who did not understand it.
+
+Nearly the whole, certainly above three-fourths of the population, make
+use of the Tagala or Tagaloc language, which, so far as I am aware,
+is quite peculiar to these islands, having little or no similarity
+to Malayee, so that it does not appear to have been derived from a
+Malay root, although some few Malay words have been engrafted on it,
+probably from the circumstance of that language being made use of
+in the province of Bisayas, which is the only place in the islands
+where it is spoken.
+
+In Pampanga province, the natives speak a distinct language, differing
+entirely from Tagaloc, quite as much as Welsh does from English,
+although many of the Pampangans, on growing up, find it useful to know
+how to speak the Tagaloc, which most of them understand a little of.
+
+The _Negritos_, who are found in some parts of the islands, are a
+peculiar race, with features exactly resembling the African negro,
+although in general smaller made men, but formed with all the
+characteristics of the African. They also use a distinct language,
+and have very little intercourse with either of the other races--many
+tribes of them living, even up to this day, independent of, and
+unsubdued by, the Spaniards, whose active missionaries have however
+of late years been making every effort to reduce them to allegiance
+to the government of Manilla, as well as to the religion of the cross.
+
+These good men have penetrated, where soldiers dare not enter with
+arms in their hands, and in their case, truly, the sword has given
+place to the gown, with good effects to all concerned in the reduction
+of these wild Indians to the Roman Catholic faith, and the arts of
+civilized life; for many hundreds of them, nay, I believe thousands,
+are now peaceful cultivators of the soil, which, these good fathers
+have taught them how to till, instead of living, as they formerly did,
+at warfare with mankind, and solely on the produce of the chase.
+
+How these differences of race and language have arisen, it is probably
+impossible now to discover, at least I have never heard any one of
+the many theories on the subject, for they are nothing more than
+speculations, which could sustain all the requirements necessary to
+account for their existence in their present state.
+
+In the character of the native Indians there are very many good points,
+although they have long had a bad name, from their characters and
+descriptions coming from the Spanish mouths, who are too indolent
+to investigate it beyond their households, or at the most beyond
+their city walls; as very few, indeed, of all the Spaniards I met
+with have ever been in the country any distance from Manilla, except
+those whose duty it has been to proceed to a distance, as an alcalde
+of the province, or as an officer of the troops scattered through
+the islands,--very many of whom remain at home in the residency or
+in their quarters, smoking or drinking chocolate, and bewailing their
+hard fates, which have condemned them to live so far away from Manilla,
+from the theatre, and from society. They come and go without knowing,
+or caring to know, anything about the people around them, except when
+a feast-day comes, when they are always ready enough to visit their
+houses, dance with the beauties, and consume their suppers.
+
+The most noticeable traits in the Philippine Indians appear to be
+their hospitality, good-nature, and _bonhommie_ which very many
+of them have. Their tempers are quick; but, like all of that sort,
+after effervescing, soon subside into quiet again.
+
+Very frequently have I been invited to enter their houses in the
+country, when loitering about during the heat of the sun, under
+the protection of an immense and thick sombrero which prevented me
+suffering much from the exposure; and on going into one of them,
+after the host or hostess had accommodated me with a seat on the
+_banco_ of bamboo, a cigarillo, or the _buyo_, which is universally
+chewed by them, and composed of the betel nut and lime spread over an
+envelope of leaf, such as nearly all Asiatics use, has been offered
+by the handsome, though swarthy, hands of the hostess or of a grown-up
+daughter: or, if their rice was cooking at the time, often have I been
+invited to share it, and have sometimes so made a most excellent and
+hearty meal, using the natural aid of the fingers in place of a spoon,
+or other of the customary aids for eating. After eating they always
+wash their hands and mouths, so cleanly are their habits.
+
+So long as any white man behaves properly towards them, and treats
+them as human beings should be treated, their character will evince
+many good points; but should they be beaten or abused without a
+cause, or for something that they do not understand, as they but too
+frequently are when composing the crews of ships, the masters of which
+are seldom able to speak to them in their own language or in Spanish:
+who can blame them if the knife is drawn from its sheath, and their
+own arm avenges the maltreatment of some brutal shipmaster or his
+mates for the wrong they have suffered at their hands? In all I have
+seen or had to do with them they have never appeared as aggressors,
+and it has only been when the white men, despising their dark skins,
+have ventured on unjustifiable conduct, that I have heard of their
+hands being raised to revenge it.
+
+When they know that they are in the wrong, however, should the
+harshest measures be used towards them, I have never known or heard
+of their having had recourse to the knife, and I have frequently seen
+them suffer very severe bodily chastisement for very slight causes
+of offence.
+
+They are easily kept in order by gentleness, but have spirit enough to
+resent ill-treatment if undeserved. Not long ago an instance of the
+kind happened to a person who has the character of being a violent
+and irascible man. He one day fell into a passion about something
+or other, and fastened his ill-nature and passion on an inoffensive
+servant who chanced to be near him at the time, and ended some abuse
+by ordering the man to go into a room, where he followed him, and after
+locking the door and putting the key into his pocket, took up a riding
+switch and began to flog the servant, who bore it for a while, until,
+losing his temper completely, he seized his master by the throat,
+and, taking the whip from him, administered with it quite as much
+castigation as he had himself received.
+
+Their general character is that of a good-natured and merry people,
+strongly disposed to enjoy the present, and caring little for the
+future.
+
+So far as regards personal strength and mental activity or power,
+they are much superior to any of the Javanese or Malays I have seen
+in Java, or at Batavia and Singapore. But, to our modes of thinking,
+the greatest defect in their character is their indolence and dislike
+to any bodily exertion, which are the effects of the sun under which
+they live; but their native maxims and their habits, although we
+may disapprove of them now-a-days, when everything goes by steam,
+might be dignified by a great poet's verse into the truest and best
+philosophy; for does he not sing,--
+
+
+            Otium bello furiosa Thrace,
+            Otium Medi pharetra decori
+            Grosphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nec auro.
+
+            Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum
+            Splendat in mensâ tenui salinum;
+            Nec leves somnos timor aut Cupido
+                     Sordidus aufert.
+
+            Lætus in præsens animus, quod ultra est
+            Oderit curare, et amara lento
+            Temperet risu, &c.----Hor. II. xvi.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+At Manilla a labourer's pay is a quarter of a dollar a-day, or a little
+more than a shilling, which is enough to keep him supplied with food
+of as good quality and quantity as he needs to eat for about two or
+three days, so that if a labourer or coolie, who has only himself to
+support, work two days out of the seven, he has enough to supply all
+his necessities, and can enjoy what is to him a high degree of pleasure
+and amusement,--the training of a cock for the cockpit, sleeping
+a long siesta, gossiping with his neighbour, and chewing _buyos_,
+or smoking cigarillos, quite at his ease, during the rest of the time.
+
+They have all a strong dislike to settling down to any employment
+demanding the exercise of much bodily exertion, even when it is well
+remunerated; and the consequence is, that the extreme difficulty of
+procuring labour forms the greatest drawback there is to a planter
+settling in the Philippines, and not unfrequently causes the one or two
+people who have now got plantations there on a small scale, to suffer
+the utmost inconvenience in the management of their estates; and this
+operates to so great an extent, as virtually to prevent any one but a
+very bold and speculative man investing money in sugar plantations,
+or otherwise locking it up in agriculture. Government has long been
+sensible of this, and the present Captain-General has issued an order,
+containing a permission for persons engaging in plantations to import
+Chinese labourers, to whom, if actually engaged in tilling the soil,
+are conceded certain privileges which they have not hitherto enjoyed,
+being subject to less tribute than what is paid by the rest of their
+countrymen who are engaged in other avocations.
+
+This decree had been lying ready for years in the desks of the
+Government officials, no Governor till recently having had the courage
+to publish an order so greatly in advance of their general policy. As
+it is, this is one of the greatest steps they have ever taken in
+the right direction; and I trust it may be attended with the best
+effects, although some of the restrictions on the China labourers
+may tell against it; and I fear that the large outlay necessary to
+import labour from China, while they have a supply, although it is
+a very uncertain one, at their doors, without incurring the expense
+and risk of doing so, may hinder the success of the scheme.
+
+There are very few people in the colony who are possessed of the
+capital necessary to start a plantation on a large scale. And the
+existing laws prevent or check foreigners doing so, unless they
+get married to a Spanish or native woman, which, from their general
+character, few British would like to do; or by abjuring their religion,
+and getting naturalized, which is a measure equally or more repugnant
+to the human breast, unless self-interest is the beacon which directs
+the path, or is the motive for doing so.
+
+However, should plantations on a large scale ever be carried on
+in these islands with an equal degree of facility, science, care,
+and attention, and with the improved machinery now employed in sugar
+estates in Jamaica and elsewhere, there can be little doubt that the
+productions of the islands will be greatly increased, and it will do
+good so far; but whether it would tend to improve the condition, or
+increase the comforts of the people, now so independent of care for
+a livelihood, appears to be more than doubtful; in other respects,
+it would do them good, by stimulating their energies.
+
+At present there are no large plantations on the islands, although
+two or three of small size exist, none of which are understood to be
+sufficiently remunerating to offer any inducement to invest money in
+a similar manner.
+
+At Jalajala, M. Vidie, an hospitable old Frenchman, has an estate;
+but I understand that the most unceasing efforts, and the greatest
+economy, care, and attention, have been necessary to make it answer,
+both on his part and on that of its former owner, an Anglo-American,
+and a person of great ingenuity, who got so much disgusted with the
+incessant battle he had to fight with the soil, and those who tilled
+it, that after overcoming the greatest difficulties, he sold the
+estate, and was glad to be quit of it.
+
+The whole of the productions of the islands are raised by the poor
+Indian cultivators, each from his own small patch of land, which they
+till with very simple, though efficient implements of agriculture.
+
+With the existing high prices of labour, there is, however, probably
+nearly as much surplus produce available for exportation as there
+would be for years to come, under the system of large plantations and
+dear labour. Because the present occupiers of the land--employing
+no hired labour, but only directing the industry of the farmer and
+that of his family, to the small patch on which they were born, and,
+of course, have some affection for--are certain to expend far more
+labour on their own land, and to bring it to a much higher degree of
+cultivation, than it would suit the purpose of a large planter to do;
+who, like the Australian or Canadian colonist, would probably find it
+most for his interest to cultivate a large surface of land imperfectly,
+as under high wages of labour, and comparatively cheap land, it would
+be likely to yield him a better return than if he cultivated only a
+small surface of ground highly.
+
+For this seems to be the only policy, where the elements to be combined
+are dear labour and cheap land; just as when they are dear land and
+cheap labour, the contrary would be the case, as it is in Britain.
+
+Now, when I call a quarter of a dollar per diem a high rate of labour,
+I may be misunderstood if it is not stated that this rate, when paid
+to the slow and careless Indian labourer, is fully equivalent to
+three times that sum to a white or British labourer working at home;
+as an able-bodied man at home would do about three times as much work,
+and would perform it in a highly superior manner.
+
+These reasons make me loath to see the present system of small holdings
+changed, which would sever old and respectable ties, and would force
+the present independent Indian cottage-farmer to seek employment from
+the extensive cultivator, and, without getting more work out of him
+in the course of a year, would lower him in self-respect, and in the
+many virtues which that teaches, without deriving any correspondent
+advantage to society.
+
+In a tropical climate the elements of society are varied, and
+quite different from those of a country with a climate like that of
+Great Britain. A native Indian, under a tropical sun, could scarcely
+support a system of really _hard_ labour for six days of the week for
+any length of time; and their indolent habits are, in some degree,
+necessary to their existence, perhaps as much as his night's rest
+is to the British labourer; for without days of relaxation to supply
+the stamina which they have lost during exposure to the sun and hard
+labour under it, it is my decided opinion that the men so exposed,
+and exhausted, would, after a very few years, knock themselves up,
+and become unfit to work, thereby rendering themselves an unproductive
+class, and burdens on their friends and on society.
+
+The present cultivators, who show a high degree of intelligence
+in many of their operations, in cultivating their staple, rice,
+for example, actually expend more labour on their land, and work
+much more constantly than any hirelings would do; as at Jalajala,
+out of upwards of a hundred labourers in the village who had no other
+employment or source of revenue but their labour, not above a third
+of the able-bodied men mustered in the fields when the labours of
+the day began in the morning; and I understood from the owner of the
+estate, that under no circumstances could he prevail on the whole
+body of labourers to muster, nor, so long as their rice lasts, will
+they work; it is only when that fails, and they will starve if they
+do not exert themselves, that they will undergo hard labour in the
+fields under the broiling sun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+Very few of the native Indians or Mestizos are possessed of much
+wealth, according to British ideas of the term, although there are some
+of the latter class who are considered among themselves as very well
+off, if their savings amount to from five to twenty thousand dollars;
+and when they reach fifty thousand dollars, they are looked upon as
+rich capitalists.
+
+In Manilla, there are one or two of these Mestizo traders whose
+fortunes amount to more than this; but such occurances are rare,
+and are seldom heard of. Many of these amounts have been collected
+together by their possessors by their engaging in a sort of usurious
+money-lending or banking business with the poverty-struck cultivators
+of the soil, by advancing seed to many of them for their paddy fields,
+and making the hard condition of exacting in return about one half
+of the produce of the ensuing crop. But perhaps these money-lenders
+are, to a certain extent, necessary to supply the wants of an
+improvident and careless race, these habits being besetting sins of
+the Indian character; yet there can be little doubt that the money
+acquired by such a usurious repayment of the sums advanced, does
+an immense deal of harm, and lessens the natural independence of
+the Indians who are so unfortunate as to fall into the clutches of
+the money-lender. Should a poor Indian, the possessor of a patch of
+paddy-land capable of producing very little more than is required to
+feed his family, once run short of seed, he has a very hard battle to
+fight with the soil before he is able to get that debt cleared off,
+should his neighbours be too poor to assist him, as he must then have
+recourse to the usurer. For although, through his greater efforts and
+improved cultivation, he may produce much more paddy than his land
+had done before, yet he is seldom able to save enough for seed from
+the moiety of the produce which his appetite restricted to live upon,
+as the other half must go to repay the usurer who advanced him seed,
+or money to purchase it.
+
+I have seldom heard of Europeans engaging in this business, for which
+their nature and habits are much less suitable than those Mestizo
+capitalists who devote themselves to the traffic.
+
+These debts are frequently contracted by the Indians in emulating the
+splendour of some richer neighbour on their patron saint's feast-day,
+when, in proportion to their means, an immense deal of extravagant
+expenditure usually takes place; but, with the exception of the
+cockpit, all their other expenses are very slight and thrifty.
+
+Their houses are mostly composed of attap, or nipa grass, on a bamboo
+framework fixed on and supported by several strong wooden posts,
+generally the trunks of trees, sunk deep enough in the ground to
+render them capable of resisting the violent gales of wind common
+over all the islands during particular months of the year. In the
+villages some of the richer natives have wooden houses--that is to
+say, the framework of the part of the house dwelt in is of wood,
+being generally supported by a stone wall which composes the bodega,
+&c., underneath.
+
+Their furniture is generally made from the bamboo, and from this most
+useful plant several of their household utensils are also formed;
+all these are of the simplest description, but amply sufficient to
+supply their wants.
+
+A crucifix, and the portraits of several saints, are universally
+found attached to the walls, and before these they are at all seasons
+accustomed devoutly to repeat their morning and evening orisons--all
+the family kneeling while the mother recites the prayer.
+
+At nearly all houses in the country a large mortar scooped out of the
+trunk of some tree is found, being the instrument employed to free
+their paddy from the husk, and convert it into rice. This operation
+appears to rank among those household duties which fall to the wife's
+share to perform. The pestle is sometimes of considerable weight;
+and when it is so, is worked by two women at once.
+
+In their field operations the buffalo is the only animal employed,
+and is probably the only one domesticated possessing the requisite
+strength to perform the work, as the country oxen and horses are much
+too small; and although more active, are too weak to drag the plough
+through the flooded paddy fields in which they would get entangled and
+sink, sometimes to their middles; but through land in this state the
+bulky buffalo delights to wade, and, although slowly, creeps along,
+and forces himself through.
+
+In the towns the buffalo is still employed in carts and light work,
+for which it is not so well suited as the active-paced horses or oxen
+of the country would be, and they no doubt will in time be adopted
+for these purposes.
+
+In the country the horses are only used for the saddle, and for
+conveying small packages of goods from one country shopkeeper to
+another, as the roads they have to traverse are such as to preclude
+any use of conveyances upon wheels.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+Throughout the islands there is a part of every village set apart for
+the market-place, where in the early morning, and after sunset in the
+evening, the utmost activity in buying and selling prevails. At all of
+these places rice, fish, and butcher meat (generally, but not always),
+fruit, and merchandise of the most suitable sorts to supply the wants
+of the people who are likely to purchase it, are exposed for sale. It
+is a curious scene to walk through such a place for the first time,
+especially after sunset, when the red glare of the torches or lamps
+shows to perfection the sparkling eyes, swarthy features, and long
+hair, which, waving about over the foreheads of the men, gives them a
+wildness of look, which their sombre dress, consisting of a dark blue
+shirt and trousers, having nothing to attract the attention from the
+sparkle of their eyes, makes all the more striking.
+
+In Santa Cruz market-place at Manilla, between the hours of six and
+eight in the morning and evening, an immense crowd collect to supply
+their household wants, and innumerable are the articles displayed
+in the shops;--here the cochineal of Java, there the sago of Borneo,
+or the earthenware of China. In the Bamboo Islands the more perishable
+commodities are exposed for sale; and fish being the principal article
+of the natives' food (and also a favourite one of the white men),
+is found exposed for sale in large quantities. But all so offered
+is dead, even when the vendor is a Chinaman, although in his native
+country great quantities of it are hawked about the streets by the
+sellers carrying them alive, in water, so that the purchaser is
+certain always to have this food fresh and untainted by keeping;
+for even a few hours is sufficient to spoil it in this climate.
+
+The market is well supplied with all descriptions of fish caught in
+the Pasig or the bay, most of which are well tasted; the fishermen of
+the villages in the neighbourhood being the principal suppliers. A
+small sort is found in the river very much resembling white-bait in
+taste. Shrimps are also consumed in large quantities. After the rains
+there may generally be procured, by those who like them, frogs, which
+are taken from the ditch round the walls in great numbers, and are
+then fat, and in good condition for eating, making a very favourite
+curry of some of the Europeans, their flesh being very tender.
+
+The natives principally eat fish, but there is besides a large quantity
+of beef and pork consumed by them, which are always procurable,
+except on Fridays, when some little difficulty may be experienced in
+procuring flesh, as there is only enough killed on the morning of
+that day to supply the wants of the invalids. The country-fed pork
+is seldom or never seen at the tables of Europeans, these animals
+being too frequently allowed to feed in a most disgusting manner;
+and many pigs may at any time be seen in the suburbs of the town
+where the Indians dwell roaming about the streets, and efficiently
+performing the duties of scavengers, by removing the filth and garbage
+from many of these remote streets.
+
+But notwithstanding their knowing, and in fact daily seeing, this
+gross and disgusting mode of feeding, it is the most universal and
+favourite food of the Chinese at Manilla, and is also a favourite
+with the Indians.
+
+The continued use of pork so fed not unfrequently produces a skin
+disease called sarnas, something resembling itch.
+
+Fowls, turkeys, and ducks, both tame and wild, are at all times
+procurable, the supplies of the latter being from the Laguna. Geese
+are seldom or never exposed for sale, but are sometimes sent from
+China to private persons merely for their own consumption.
+
+It is a curious thing that geese will not produce eggs, or sit upon
+them to hatch their young, at Manilla; and it is also a sufficiently
+odd circumstance, that turkeys die in a short time after reaching
+Singapore, where they are sometimes sent to private individuals for
+domestic use, although they thrive very well both in the Philippines
+and in Java. At Singapore, however, after being a few days ashore,
+some of them are attacked by a peculiar sickness, apparently giddiness
+of the head, which invariably ends in death in a few minutes after
+the commencement of the attack. All these birds are subject to it at
+that place, if allowed to go about too long before being seized upon
+by the cook.
+
+The principal food of the Indians being rice, it is found exposed for
+sale, in large and small quantities, in the bazaars, where nearly all
+the kinds of fruits of the season may also be found. The catalogue
+of fruits grown in the islands is a long one, but among those most
+commonly seen may be reckoned plantains of all kinds, of which
+there are an immense variety; mangoes, which are remarkably good,
+and superior to any species grown in the East, excepting those of
+Bombay, to which they are equal; the custard-apple, the pine-apple,
+seldom equal to those of Batavia or Singapore; limes, and oranges,
+not very good, and greatly inferior to those of China, from whence
+some are imported by the trading Spanish vessels constantly running
+between the two places; melons of different kinds, of middling quality;
+cucumbers, pumpkins, jackfruit, lanzones, and many other sorts.
+
+The best gardens, or those from which Manilla is chiefly supplied with
+fruit, are in the vicinity of Cavite, from which place the country
+people bring it every morning, the carriers being generally young
+women, who, from the steadiness requisite to balance the fruit-baskets
+on their heads, acquire a good walk, somewhat at the expense of their
+necks, however.
+
+The most common sorts of vegetables exposed for sale appear to be the
+sweet potatoes, yams, and lettuce; and green pea-pods are sometimes
+to be had, but the latter are seldom good.
+
+The temperature induces such a rapid vegetation as to injure their
+taste, as it prevents their ripening, for, after attaining a certain
+growth, the sun dries up the pod in a very few days, to prevent which
+they are pulled very early, when the pea is so small and delicate,
+being barely formed, that the cooks usually serve up both pods and
+peas together at table, after having minced them into small pieces
+with a knife, being unable to separate them properly.
+
+The common potatoe is imported from China, and from the Australian
+colonies. Those from Van Diemen's Land are the best; the sorts received
+from China are usually watery and small, being greatly inferior to
+those sent up from Australia.
+
+In the fair monsoon, the Chinamen sometimes get supplies of apples,
+pears, cabbage, &c., from Shanghai, and these are considered as
+great delicacies.
+
+There are many other fruits and vegetables procurable at Manilla,
+but those mentioned are the sorts usually met with.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+The population of the islands is very uncertain, for although the
+Government makes the census _apparently_ with some exactness, a very
+little knowledge of the country is sufficient to show that they do not
+do so in reality, but that this resembles all their other statistical
+information, and cannot be depended upon, although it is useful in
+leading to an approximation.
+
+Their data are made up from the revenue derived from a capitation
+tax, which is so much per head for all grown up persons; but as it
+is the interest of all who may be called upon to pay it to keep out
+of the way during the period of its collection, many of them do so
+without much difficulty, more especially in the remote districts,
+where their facilities for concealment are much greater than in the
+neighbourhood of Manilla, or of the provincial capitals, where the
+alcaldes reside; so that those actually liable to it are very much
+greater than the payers of the tax. I estimate the population at a
+little under five million souls, the great bulk of whom are engaged
+in agricultural pursuits.
+
+Great numbers of people are also employed as fishermen, artizans
+of all sorts, and as manufacturers of cloth fabrics of various
+descriptions. In addition to the people so gaining a livelihood
+by their industry, there are scattered throughout the islands many
+Indians, without any occupation, and apparently altogether dependent
+on the fruit of the plaintain-tree for subsistence, and indulging
+all their natural laziness and indolence of disposition by its aid,
+preferring to subsist on the fruit of this most productive plant,
+which they can do, from its being always procurable and at all times
+of the year in season, without an effort towards its cultivation,
+to undertaking the labour and attention necessary to grow rice.
+
+Some of these people are hunters, occasionally going out to the
+wilds in pursuit of game, which must alternate beneficially with
+their vegetable diet.
+
+As an article of food, however, the plantain does not appear to be so
+nutritive or strength-supporting as rice; at least, those persons who
+are principally dependent on it for food appear less robust looking
+than the rice-fed population. This, however, may not be entirely owing
+to that cause, but may be attributable in some degree to their lazy
+habits, which, by preventing them taking much exercise or bodily
+exertion, renders the muscles of their bodies less developed than
+those of the other Indians whose harder work keeps their frames in
+a proper state of health.
+
+In person, the native Indians are a good deal slighter and shorter
+than Europeans, but are, on the average, taller and stouter than the
+Malays, many of them having that broad make of shoulders and lustiness
+of limb which indicate personal strength.
+
+Their countenances are in general open and pleasing, and would
+be handsome, but for their smallness of nose, which is the worst
+feature in the native physiognomy; however, when that feature is
+well shaped, as it frequently is, their faces are decidedly handsome
+and good-looking.
+
+These remarks apply to both sexes; a number of the women are very
+beautiful, for although their skin is dusky, the ruddiness of their
+blood shows through it on the cheek, producing a very beautiful
+colour, and their dark, lustrous eyes are in general more lit up with
+intelligence and vivacity of expression, than those of any Indians
+I have seen elsewhere.
+
+A very pleasant trait, to my taste, is the nearly universal frankness
+and candid look that nature has stamped upon their features, which,
+when accompanied by the softness of manner common to all Asiatics,
+is particularly gratifying in the fairer part of creation.
+
+Their figures are well shaped, being perfectly straight and graceful,
+and nearly all of them have the small foot and hand, which may be
+regarded as a symbol of unmixed blood when very small and well shaped;
+as although the Mestizas gain from their European progenitor a greater
+fairness of skin, they generally retain the marks of it in their
+larger bones, and their hands and feet are seldom so well shaped as
+those of the pure-bred Indian, even although the Spaniards are noted
+for possessing these points in equal or greater perfection than the
+people of other European countries.
+
+The bath is a great luxury among the natives, and of all country-born
+people, who appear to be fully as fond of the water as ducks are,
+and never look so well pleased as when they are paddling about in it,
+for nearly all the women can swim.
+
+It used to be a very favourite sport to make up a bathing party of
+ladies, who, dressed in their long gowns, bathed with their male
+friends equipped in parjamas, or in short bathing trousers, without
+hesitation, swimming about in a retired part of the river for a long
+time, generally stopping at least an hour in the water, on leaving
+which, and dressing, all reunited to breakfast, or amuse themselves
+in some way, with dancing or music. These parties, however, are now
+seldom heard of, as the late arrivals from Spain have been so many as
+to be able to take the lead, and give a tone to the society of Manilla,
+and are now in the midst of revolutionizing the old habits and customs
+of the place, certainly not at all for the better, as they have yet
+to learn that what is suitable in Europe is not so in the tropics.
+
+Fondness for gay dress is universal, and the _ninas_ take considerable
+pains to understand the subject, and to adorn their natural good looks
+to the most advantage by the selection of the most appropriate colours.
+
+Their hair is one of the most remarkable beauties in the native and
+Mestiza women, being very much longer, and of a finer gloss, than
+that of any Europeans.
+
+The staple and most favourite food of the people is rice seasoned
+by sun-dried or salted fish, if they should be unable to procure
+it fresh, which is, however, seldom the case, as the rivers in the
+country abound with many different sorts, and all of them appear to
+be very good and well tasted.
+
+And not only do the rivers abound with fish, but great numbers of
+_dalag_ are found in the flooded paddy fields during and subsequent
+to the rainy season, when they are soaked with water. How this fish,
+which is not very good to eat, being tasteless and insipid, comes
+there, is a curious problem, as it is often killed in paddy grounds at
+a great distance from any stream, out of which it could come during
+an overflow. I am not quite certain whether this fish is ever killed
+in a stream or not, or whether it is only found in the paddy fields.
+
+I do not recollect of its once being caught in a river, although
+the natives kill the fish in the ditches and paddy fields in large
+quantities, either by shooting them with shot, as they flounder in
+the fields, or by pursuing and capturing them, and knocking them down
+with a stick.
+
+In fact, I suspect the _dalag_ to be an intermediary between the
+reptile and the fish, although not naturalist enough to investigate
+the subject in a proper manner.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+Many of my readers may chance to be aware that the whole group of
+Philippine islands was mortgaged to Great Britain for payment of the
+ransom agreed upon at the time of our conquest of them nearly a century
+ago; and as up till this time neither the money nor the interest on
+it has been obtainable, as it probably never will be, they are, at
+this, or any other time, virtually our property, should the British
+Government foreclose the mortgage and demand payment. This, even at
+present, when the kingdom is groaning under extreme pressure for the
+necessary funds annually squeezed out of it, would not be thought a
+prudent course, even by the ultra-economical politicians who are so
+lavish of displaying their crude projects of retrenchment on neatly
+ruled-off paper.
+
+There is no doubt, however, that the cash is never likely to be
+forthcoming from the Spaniards, and, under these circumstances, it
+surely would be worth the attention of Her Majesty's Government, more
+especially as they profess free-trade ideas, to make this state of
+things the basis of a request, or even of a _claim_, on the Spanish
+Government, for obtaining some liberal concessions in favour of
+their countrymen, and the rest of the world, carrying on commercial
+intercourse with the Philippines, which is now limited to Manilla;
+all foreigners being prohibited from engaging in the country trade,
+or from owning property in lands, houses, or ships in the Philippines.
+
+Of course, the Spaniards themselves suffer for the illiberality
+of this policy, as there can be no doubt that, were it more free,
+and less burdened with restrictions of all sorts than it now is,
+it would be attended with the best effects to their own treasury,
+as well as be for the general welfare of the islands.
+
+This is what they cannot yet comprehend; but it would not be difficult
+to make them understand it, if the employé who undertook the task
+understood it himself, and possessed knowledge enough of the character
+of the people he had to deal with. Any request, if made in a proper
+tone, by our Government, would draw attention to the subject at Madrid,
+and some good might be done, even were it only of partial advantage,
+as for many years to come they are not likely to step boldly out into
+the subject.
+
+At Zamboanga, opposite Zooloo, there already exists a custom-house
+and other government offices for the regulation of their own trade
+with these islands. But no foreigners are allowed to reside at
+Zamboanga. Surely the permission for them to do so is worthy the
+attention of a government which has established and is supporting,
+at considerable expense, the colony of Labuan for the object not
+only of extending our trade and the use of the products of our
+manufacturing population, but also with the more generous and noble
+idea of civilizing the people in its neighbourhood by their influence,
+and of teaching them the blessings that flow from industry and peace.
+
+The appointment of Sir James Brooke as Governor of Labuan was in every
+respect a wise proceeding, as it affords a philanthropist a very wide
+field on which to exert his influence. Unfortunately, however, for him,
+a number of well-informed people, residing in the neighbourhood of the
+spot where his philanthropic exertions are said to have taken place,
+deny their having had any existence; but, on the contrary, accuse
+that gentleman, through the columns of a Singapore newspaper, of the
+worst motives and conduct: in short, he is accused in that newspaper
+of murdering innocent natives in great numbers by falsely representing
+them to be pirates, to serve his own purposes and gratify his Sarawak
+subjects' dislike of them; the naval officers, whose services had
+been placed at his disposal to put down piracy, being misled by him.
+
+I am not sufficiently acquainted with all the facts of the case to
+say with what truth this accusation is made, although, I believe,
+so grave a charge has never been contradicted by him, or by his
+friends authorized to do so in his name, and to state the true facts
+of the case to the public. But, as far as Labuan is concerned, those
+people who are best qualified to judge appear to be of opinion that,
+although it should have a fair trial for some years longer, it will
+never become a place of much commercial importance.
+
+There is little doubt that were foreigners allowed to settle at
+Zamboango, where Zooloo, Mindanao, and the entire southern coasts
+of the Philippines would be open to their enterprise, it would be
+productive of the most beneficial effects, not merely to our merchants
+and manufacturers, but to the cause of civilization throughout all
+these barbarous countries, and would probably be found much more
+effective in putting an end to the existing state of piracy and
+kidnapping, which are now carried on to some extent, than any warlike
+means which have hitherto been employed to suppress them.
+
+There are many other objects of a commercial nature worth
+the consideration of an enlightened government, such as the
+disproportionate protective duties in favour of their national
+shipping and the produce of Spain; and some degree of toleration to
+the religious opinions of foreigners residing at Manilla might also
+be obtained; so far, at least, as to permit their having a piece
+of consecrated ground for burying their dead, if no more should be
+granted; at present they are not permitted to place the remains of
+a Protestant within the limits of consecrated ground; but have to
+bury them in a field where Chinamen, who retained their country's
+faith till the end of their lives, are laid, and where swine are
+continually going about routing up the soil, at the imminent hazard
+of disturbing recently interred bodies.
+
+Liberty for foreigners to settle in the country for the purposes of
+trade or agriculture, and to hold property, might be obtained without
+much difficulty, were it properly explained, and shown that their
+doing so would benefit the Spaniards as much as themselves.
+
+Under the existing laws their inability to hold property prevents
+those foreigners who, after passing many years in the country, have
+become as it were almost native, and where they have contracted ties
+and formed connexions which few men would like to break, from settling
+down in it for the remainder of their lives. As they have no means of
+investing their gains with security, though they have probably reached
+an age when the cares of business press heavily on relaxed energies,
+and they are disposed to sit down quietly, and enjoy themselves in
+the country where they are naturalized in every thing but in the eye
+of the law--all the interest which good citizens, holding pecuniary
+investments, naturally take in the well-being of the country, is
+withdrawn from them. No wonder, then, that they are careless about the
+domestic improvement of the Philippines, or of their progress in those
+arts which fill the treasuries of rulers, and make subjects happy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+The laws do not appear to be bad in themselves, but the dilatoriness
+with which they are administered has the effect of rendering them as
+baneful to those living under them as if they were radically bad;
+the delays and accidents inseparable from the mode of conducting
+legal business are very vexatious, and frequently from its cost it
+is quite inefficient for its purposes of justice. However, Spain and
+its colonies are not singular in that respect, as there is one great
+and flourishing country which I could name, where the same defects
+exist, although, thank God, in a less degree than they do either
+in the colony of Spain, or in that country itself; so the less said
+about the mote in our brother's eye, the better for those who have
+at this moment a beam in the organ of their own judicial executive.
+
+In conducting a _pleito_ at Manilla, all is done by writing; first,
+the charge is made out and filed; then comes an answer to the charge;
+then a counter-answer is put in, and that again is replied to; and
+so on they go for any length of time, determined by the weight of
+the purses of the respective contending parties, till, if no more
+is to be said, or if one or both of them gets tired of the expense,
+and the case is decided, the other, if he be a rich man, can refer the
+whole affair to Spain, where the same pleadings have to be again gone
+through, and all the vexation and expense re-incurred, besides that the
+decision of the case may with a little management be protracted for any
+indefinite length of time. This is not worse than what happens at home,
+and is similar to some of our Scotch cases in former times, when for a
+century or more one case would be agitated to gratify family dislike
+or prejudice. That no one may think I exaggerate, it may be as well
+to mention a case which is still undecided at this moment, and which
+originated about 1731, between the lairds of Kilantringan and Miltonise
+in Galloway, although near kinsmen, namesakes, and neighbours.
+
+There are few things more dreaded by the Spaniards themselves than
+a lawsuit with one another. Many of them, however, are glad of the
+chance it gives them to be revenged on people with whom they are not
+upon good terms. So vile is the whole law and practice relating to
+the testamentary disposal of property, and to such lengths have the
+abuses in this particular branch of it gone, that it has become a
+proverb among Spaniards to say that a wise man would prefer being
+a trustee on an estate, to being heir to it; and several people at
+Manilla are well known to be living on their gains from executorships,
+&c., having no other means of support. These persons, although their
+incomes are almost universally known to be so derived, are not in
+the least shunned as dishonest people, but are looked upon as being
+perfectly entitled to feather their own nests in place of performing
+their duty, as we should understand it to be in Britain.
+
+The police laws and regulations are also badly administered, being
+very shameful to the Government which permits things to go on under the
+same loose system as before. Were there a more numerous and efficient
+police force scattered over the country, none of the Spaniards would be
+afraid, as many of them now actually are, to live out of town, or to
+make distant excursions to the country, from fear of the _tulisanes_,
+or robber-bands, which are scattered about in various places, and are
+found pursuing their avocations in the neighbourhood of the capital,
+although not so boldly as they did a few years since. These robbers
+plunder the country in bands perfectly organized, and bodies of them
+are generally existing within a few miles of Manilla,--the wilds and
+forests of the Laguna being favourite haunts, as well as the shores of
+the Bay of Manilla, from which they can come by night, without leaving
+a trace of the direction they have taken, in bodies of ten and twenty
+men at a time, in a large banca. They have apparently some friends
+in Manilla, who plan out their enterprises, send them intelligence,
+and direct their attacks; so that every now and then they are heard
+of as having gutted some rich native or Mestizo's house in the suburbs
+of Manilla, after which they generally manage to get away clear before
+the alguacils come up.
+
+The houses of Europeans are also occasionally attacked, although much
+less boldly within the last year or two; yet it is the custom for
+people to retire to bed, even in the heart of the town without the
+walls, with pistols, a sword, or some other weapon within reach. That
+these people do immense damage there is no doubt, as they not only
+plunder the country people of buffaloes and horses, but rifle their
+houses, if no better prey is to be had, to such an extent, that
+the natives are afraid to live at any distance from each other in
+many parts of the country, solely through fear of them. From this
+cause, patches of fine paddy land in out-of-the-way districts are
+left uncultivated, or are hurriedly ploughed and sown by adventurous
+persons, who after doing so retire into the nearest village to live,
+till the time comes to reap as much of the paddy as the deer and
+numerous wild pigs have left untouched.
+
+The punishments of these bad characters are severe enough when justice
+chances to get hold of them; and, should their crimes be atrocious,
+they occasionally suffer death. Sometimes they are _garroted_, which
+is done in this way. After being seated at the place of execution,
+with the back towards a high post of wood, the culprit's neck is
+encircled by an iron collar attached to the post, and capable of
+compression by a powerful screw passing through the post, which, on
+the signal being made, the executioner turns, and the victim is choked
+in a second. The practice is much less disgusting than hanging, as
+no effects are visible to an on-looker beyond the convulsive movement
+of a frame loaded with heavy irons to prevent a severe and disgusting
+struggle with departing life.
+
+A good many of the _tulisanes_ are soldiers who, after committing some
+peccadillo, feared its discovery and punishment, and flying to the
+wilds have joined or organised a troop from among the bad characters
+in the neighbourhood of their hiding-place.
+
+These executions are not unfrequent at Manilla. One morning, when
+riding near the usual place of execution on the sea-beach, I saw six
+deserters, who had composed a band of atrocious robbers, suffer death
+from the muskets of their former comrades; those who were not killed
+at once, having an end put to their existence by the pistols of a
+serjeant, who stepped close up to them before discharging the piece.
+
+Truly it was a sad sight to see their former comrades degraded into
+executioners. The number of women who had collected to witness the
+last act of this tragedy was very great, very much outnumbering the
+men present. But they were principally composed of the most worthless
+class of females; yet on many of them the example appeared to make
+a considerable impression.
+
+I have no doubt, whatever the present popular mawkish
+sentimental-mongers may write to the contrary, that these exhibitions,
+when happening rarely, tend, in a great measure, to restrain the
+passions of the evil-disposed, although some of them may think it
+bold, among their hardened associates, to turn the spectacle into a
+farce. I firmly believe that no human being can in cold blood look upon
+another's death by violent means without being forced to think about
+it for some time, greater or less, according to his or her temperament.
+
+For minor offences criminals are sometimes flogged through the
+town. They are mounted on horseback, with their legs manacled or
+bound under the horse's belly, and a portion of their punishment is
+administered at several of the most public places in the town, by
+an executioner dressed in red, and with a veil over his face. Thus,
+supposing a thief sentenced to receive a hundred lashes or blows,
+they would most probably be administered by twenty at a time, in five
+different places throughout the capital, proclamation being made at
+each place, previous to the punishment, of the offence and of the name
+of the offender, who is dressed in the ordinary mode, with a shirt and
+pair of trousers, and exposed to the full view of the attending crowd.
+
+Confinement in the jail at night, with labour in irons on the public
+roads during the day, is also a usual punishment; criminals being
+generally linked in pairs by a chain round the leg of each, and
+taken out, under a guard, to work on the streets or roads at Manilla,
+Cavite, or Zamboanga, at sunrise, and led back to jail at sunset. But
+as they are not forced by the soldiers to work much harder than they
+like, they take care not to injure themselves by overtasking their
+powers of labour, and are not apparently much discontented with their
+condition, from which I have seldom or never heard of their attempting
+to escape, although neither their food nor their lodgings in jail
+are very enticing; the former being bad black-looking rice and water,
+and the jail generally swarming with vermin.
+
+They appear to prefer the partial liberty of getting out of jail, and
+of working in the streets in chains, to the monotony of a residence
+within the walls of the prison, and the sedentary labour they might
+be forced to pursue there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+Among the amusements of the Indians the greatest is cock-fighting,
+for which they have a passion; and nearly every native throughout
+the islands gratifies this taste by keeping a fighting cock, which
+may be seen carried about with him perched on an arm or a shoulder,
+in all the pride of a favourite of its master.
+
+During Sundays and feast-days, when no work is allowed to be done,
+nearly the half of the native population, if able to muster a few
+rials, repair to the village cockpit, to arrange some match for their
+favorite fowl, on which they will sometimes stake large amounts,
+or to see the sport of their neighbours.
+
+The privilege of opening a cockpit is an important source of revenue
+to the Government, which farms it out to the highest bidder, who, I
+believe, has the power to stop fighting for money at any place within
+the limits of his district other than the privileged arena, for an
+admission to which he exacts a small charge from each person, which is
+the mode of reimbursing himself for the amount paid to the Government.
+
+This place is generally a large house, constructed of _cana_, wattled
+like a coarse basket, and surrounded by a high paling of the same
+description, which forms a sort of court-yard, where the cocks are
+kept waiting their turns to come upon the stage, should their owners
+have succeeded in arranging a satisfactory match. Passing across
+the yard, the door of the house, within which the matches come off,
+stands open: after entering and ascending the steps, the arena is
+before us, surrounded by seats sloping down from the wall towards it,
+so that every one may be able distinctly to witness the event.
+
+After the owners of the contending cocks have walked into the ring
+and displayed them, each armed with a long and sharp steel spur, many
+critical opinions are expressed by the Indians; and the judgments
+of the old men, who are keen upon the sport, are worth hearing by
+a visitor.
+
+The spectators having viewed the birds carefully, the bets are
+made, by calling one of the men who are constantly walking round
+the outside of the arena, for the purpose of arranging the amounts
+of bets ventured on either of the birds. Giving him the money with
+which you back your opinion, he generally quickly finds, or may at
+the moment hold in his hand, the money ventured by some one else on
+the other cock, and apprises you of the arrangement. But should your
+cock chance to be a favourite, and the broker be unable to arrange an
+equal bet against the other, he tells you so before the set-to begins,
+and returns your money if you are not disposed to give odds.
+
+In general the conflict does not last long: in from about two to
+five minutes after the set-to, one or other of the birds is pretty
+sure to be either killed, or so badly wounded by the steel spur as
+to show he has had enough of it, and to give in. Until this happens,
+the utmost quietness is maintained by the people, and their intense
+interest is only shown by their outstretched necks and eager looks,
+as well as by their muttered exclamations at the various stages of the
+fight; at the end of which, of course, the gainers are noisy, and in
+high spirits at pocketing the money, which is heard clinking all round.
+
+The amount of money staked on the issue is never very large; at least,
+I have not seen more than eighty or a hundred dollars staked in any
+cockpit, and the usual bet is an ounce of gold, or nearly four pounds.
+
+Chance, in a great measure, appears to decide the event; as an early
+blow with the sharp spur is quite sufficient to cripple the bird which
+receives it so much as to determine the fate of the battle. Quickness
+and game no doubt tell to some extent, but not very much. Of course,
+the breeding of cocks engages a good deal of attention by those
+interested in the amusement; but with the details of it I am not
+acquainted.
+
+Many of the Indians, however, appear to be more fond of a good cock,
+and to display more anxiety about it, than would be shown by them
+to their wives and children, who are not objects of nearly so much
+attention.
+
+Although extravagantly fond of all games of chance, none of them
+appears to be so captivating as the cockpit, which ranks as their chief
+passion. Of games at cards, the principal one is _monte_, the playing
+of which is sometimes carried on to a great extent, which has caused
+such distress that the law has wisely endeavoured to stop the evil,
+by enacting severe fines and punishment against those caught playing
+at it. Houses suspected of carrying it on, are at all times subject
+to a visit from the alguacils, all the people found in them being
+carried off to jail.
+
+But notwithstanding these measures, it is found impossible to put
+gambling down entirely, and some of the alcaldes, knowing the inutility
+of attempting to do so, habitually give private instructions to their
+policemen not to hunt for people playing _monte_, and not to molest
+them if found doing so. Tresilla, tresiete, &c., are names of other
+games at cards commonly played at Manilla.
+
+Billiards is also a favourite game of the Indians, whose play differs
+in some particulars from ours, and from the usual Spanish game, which
+is also dissimilar to ours. Tables are scattered throughout the town,
+entirely for the use of the native population, some of whom show
+considerable dexterity.
+
+Although bull-baiting used many years since to be an amusement here,
+it is never heard of now, having quite gone out of fashion. Neither
+are the bull-fights, as managed in Spain, practised here, probably
+from the effects of the climate on the men, who would not much relish
+a combat with one of the small, but spirited and powerfully shaped
+bulls of the country.
+
+The considerable number of officers of the troops, and other government
+_empleados_, are acquisitions to the society of the place; for being
+principally half occupied people, they are almost obliged to have
+recourse to amusements to kill the time, which would otherwise hang
+very heavy on their hands; and principally to their exertions must
+we attribute the means of enjoyment, such as they are, which are now
+available here.
+
+There is a subscription ball-room, where assemblies are held three
+times a-month; at one of which there is only dancing; at another,
+performances by the amateurs of vocal and instrumental music. Some
+of them, having a taste that way, do wonders for amateurs; and after
+the concert, there is dancing.
+
+At the third monthly assembly, there is a farce or play of some sort
+acted by amateurs; and as the Spanish genius inclines to the buskin
+and the sock, they acquit themselves very well.
+
+To this _sociedad de recreo_, or casino, there are many subscribers,
+including the Governor and his family, if he has any, and all the
+considerable people of the place, who for many years kept out those
+of lower caste than themselves by the ballot, which is the mode of
+electing candidates, who must be introduced by two members. However,
+at last the funds of the society got so low, that the admission
+of many new members was requisite to bolster up the concern with
+their entrance-money and monthly contributions, and, of course, a
+much more indiscriminate set were admitted, than formerly used to go
+there, which caused one or two people to absent themselves from the
+assemblies for some time, as no one, of course, chooses to introduce
+his daughters among people he does not wish to associate with. On
+the whole, however, the place has benefited by the new people; that
+is to say, it is more gay than before they came, which is the chief
+consideration to one careless of the precise social degree of any
+handsome and pleasant girl whom he may meet at the place.
+
+All the ladies sit together; and the men, who dare not, apparently,
+trust themselves so close to their brilliant and beautiful eyes,
+as we fancy we can do with impunity in Britain, promenade up and
+down the ball-room, or in one of the large ante-rooms contiguous to
+it. No doubt their tindery and inflammable temperaments, whenever
+love-making is concerned, has something to do with this arrangement;
+as, if a young male acquaintance of any damsel took a seat beside her,
+it would be certain to attract the papa or chaperon, to the spot, to
+see what was going on, as their most likely subject of conversation
+would have a strong leaning towards a flirtation, or downright
+love-making, at which nearly all the Spaniards are great adepts;
+the flowery expressions of their language being peculiarly suitable
+for such sentimental recreations.
+
+Besides the principal theatre, where Spaniards are the actors,
+there are two native theatres, where plays are represented in the
+Tagalog language, and written to suit their ideas of the drama; the
+subjects represented being principally tragedies connected with their
+historical traditions, and of their fathers' earliest connections
+with their European conquerors.
+
+But their mode of representing these subjects is scarcely suitable
+to any one's taste but their own, as the amount of vociferation,
+and drawling singing of the women who take a part in the pieces,
+are very disagreeable, and the noise and quantity of fighting with
+which they are always interlarded, is tiresome. Yet, strange to say,
+they themselves are much interested while listening to these absurd
+recitatives.
+
+The Spanish theatre is generally opened twice a-week, and one or two
+of the performers act very creditably. The national passion is for
+dramatic amusements; and the house, which is a large one, is usually
+well filled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+A misconception appears to exist as to the state of society at Manilla,
+people at a distance for the most part labouring under the erroneous
+impression that it remains stationary, and is today as much behind
+the rest of the world as it was thirty years ago; and that it can
+support no newspaper or other publication. Now, during my residence
+at Manilla, there have been various periodicals published daily,
+bi-weekly, and weekly; but at the end of last year (1850), these had
+all given place to one daily newspaper, called the _Diario de Manilla_,
+which being more carefully conducted than any of its predecessors,
+still continues to enjoy its popularity.
+
+It is under the direction of an editor, who being in his youth trained
+up to commercial pursuits, and having spent some years of his life in
+Great Britain in order to conduct the business of his Spanish friends,
+has insensibly acquired ideas during his residence there which are,
+no doubt, more exact and unprejudiced than those of the bulk of his
+countrymen, so that he understands the duties of a journalist, and
+manages his paper better than these things were formerly done. Of
+course, however, he must study not to trespass on the existing
+regulations of the censor, if he would avoid the scissors of that
+officer, whose duties are, to prevent any statement obnoxious to the
+powers that be from seeing the light. This, of course, is a great check
+to the spread of information, especially of a political character;
+and articles written and printed, have frequently to be suppressed
+in the succeeding impressions of the paper. The power is sometimes
+exercised when there is very little occasion for the interference of
+authority, and, of course, must very materially interfere with the
+mode of conducting an efficient newspaper.
+
+To give the censor time to examine its contents, the _Diario_ is
+printed the afternoon preceding its publication, and is issued every
+day except Monday, thus leaving the printers free from work and at
+liberty on Sunday.
+
+The _Diario_ has a large circulation in Manilla and the different
+provinces of the islands, besides having agents at Madrid, Cadiz,
+and Paris; it is also obtainable in the Havana, at Hongkong, and
+at Singapore.
+
+The subscription is one dollar a month, which is moderate enough;
+and advertisements are inserted in its columns without charge.
+
+Once a week it includes a list of the shipping in the harbour, and
+also of the arrivals and departures, and reports every morning the
+arrivals and cargoes of any vessels that have come in on the previous
+day from the provinces. It also publishes a weekly price-current of
+the produce of the country.
+
+A well-conducted periodical of this nature is of great importance in a
+commercial point of view, not only from the advertisements circulated
+by its means throughout the Philippines, but from the variety of
+facts and information which the country alcaldes address to the
+Manilla Government, in which they are required to give a list of the
+prices-current for the various articles of produce grown in their
+different provinces; a regulation which, of course, tends to keep
+the trade on a sound footing, and to prevent reckless speculation,
+which the want of market information usually induces.
+
+The _Diario_ is delivered at the houses of Manilla subscribers at about
+daylight every morning, so that they may make themselves masters of
+its contents while sipping their chocolate, before engaging in the
+business of the day. This is no slight luxury, I assure the reader,
+and it is not at all diminished by the place being so remote from
+the sound of Bow-bells and the region of Cockaigne, although it is
+true that the contents of the paper are not composed of exciting
+parliamentary reports, or of leading articles equal in talent to
+those of the _Times_ or _Morning Chronicle_.
+
+The mail bags are carried to the provinces by mounted couriers, and
+the north post, arriving at Manilla every Friday morning, brings
+communications from the important provinces of Bulacan, Bataan,
+Zambales, Pampanga, Nueva Eciga, Pangasinan, Ilocos (North and South),
+Abra, and Cagayan; and is despatched from the capital to all these
+districts every Monday at noon.
+
+The south post, embracing the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, Mindoro,
+the islands of Masbate and Ticao, Camarines (North and South), Albay,
+Samars, and Leyte, reaches Manilla every Tuesday morning, and is
+despatched from it in return every Wednesday at noon. To the arsenal of
+Cavite there is a daily post, excepting on Sundays; and to the islands
+of Visayas, the Marianas, and Batanes, the correspondence is forwarded
+by the first ships bound for any of those places, as they are obliged
+to give notice to the postmaster two days before starting for them.
+
+It would be difficult to over-estimate the advantages of this line
+of postal communication, which affords the native traders in remote
+places the best facilities for the prosecution of their trade in the
+various articles of commerce produced in the districts where they live.
+
+There are, of course, several things which might be improved in the
+administration of the post-office, as is the case in every country,
+without bringing Spain and her colonies in question; but, no doubt,
+these will be found out by-and-by, and an alteration for the better
+will take place.
+
+The press of Manilla is much more active than is commonly supposed,
+as, besides the _Diario_, there are several other periodicals printed
+in the place. Among them may be mentioned the _Guia de Forasteros_,
+and an _Almanac_, which is printed at the College of Santo Tomas,
+being entirely got up and sold by the priests of that institution,
+the proceeds being devoted to charitable purposes.
+
+Various religious and polemical works also emanate at different
+times from the press, all of them neatly and well printed, nay,
+highly creditable to the Indian compositors who execute them.
+
+I have frequently seen it stated in books, the authors of which should
+have been better informed, that no periodical publications exist at
+Manilla. Certainly there is much less appetite there for such things,
+than is exhibited among my own countrymen, whose birthright it is to
+grumble at the conduct of authorities, and to show up delinquencies
+with the most unsparing zeal, neither of which would be quite safe
+to attempt at Manilla, although it is so in Great Britain, and all
+her colonies and dependencies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+Through ignorance and a misconception of the nature of the country,
+many people are in the habit of adducing the scantiness of manufactures
+among the Indians, as an evidence of their backwardness in civilization
+and the arts which it teaches.
+
+But this is not so in reality, for if our readers reflect on the
+subject a short time, it can scarcely fail to occur to them, that
+the fertility of the soil, and the abundance of primary materials,
+even of those made use of in the manufactories, is the true reason
+why they neglect manufactures, and turn all their attention to growing
+the raw produce, from which spring the materials for conducting them.
+
+It is this cause which makes the Americans send their cotton-wool to
+Manchester, to be there, at some thousands of miles from the place
+of its growth, made into cloth--and the shepherds of Australia to
+send their wool to Yorkshire for a like purpose.
+
+This appears paradoxical, but it is true. A day's labour on a fertile
+tropical soil is better recompensed when it is directed to grow cotton,
+than it would be, were the same labour applied to weaving the wool
+into cloth; for although this climate is suitable for the growth of
+cotton in the fields, it does not at all follow that it is so for
+weaving cloth, as has been proved to be the case in the United States.
+
+In that country, where manufacturing industry has so much energy
+of character in those carrying it on to back it up, and to secure a
+satisfactory result, it appears very strange that we should be able
+to beat them in the manufacture of their own produce.
+
+But although many efforts have repeatedly been made by speculative
+and sanguine men to weave all the descriptions of cotton cloth made
+in Great Britain by the power-loom, they have never been able to
+do so in the United States. Even when they have actually carried
+machinery and men from Manchester to work it, across the Atlantic,
+the produce of the looms has been of a different quality of cloth
+to that which the same cotton yarn would have produced by the same
+machinery in Great Britain. This can only be accounted for, I believe,
+by estimating the effects of climate. The moisture of the atmosphere,
+the difference of water, and other causes, have been assigned as
+the cause of this very remarkable circumstance, and perhaps some,
+or all of them, have their share in producing it.
+
+In the Philippines, the natural shrewdness of the people, who show
+considerable aptitude in the arts which experience has taught them
+will pay them best, is demonstrated by the neatness of execution
+which characterises many of their handiworks, demanding no small
+portion of skill, care, and perseverance; the elaborate execution
+of the gold ornaments worn by the women frequently exhibiting signs,
+in a very high degree, of skilful and neat workmanship.
+
+I have seen chains, &c., of native make, quite as beautifully and as
+curiously worked as any I have seen in China, where those ornaments
+are made in more perfection than the European gold or silversmiths
+have as yet been able to attain.
+
+But probably the piña cloth manufactured in the Philippines, is the
+best known of all the native productions, and it is a very notable
+instance of their advance in the manufacturing arts.
+
+There is perhaps no more curious, beautiful, and delicate specimen of
+manufactures produced in any country. It varies in price according to
+texture and quality, ladies' dresses of it costing as low as twenty
+dollars for a bastard sort of cloth, and as high as fifteen hundred
+dollars for a finely-worked dress. The common coarse sort used by the
+natives for making shirts costs them from four to ten dollars a shirt.
+
+The colour of the coarser sorts is not, however, good; and the high
+price of the finer descriptions prevents its becoming generally a
+lady's dress; and the inferior sorts are not much prized, chiefly
+because of the yellowish tinge of the white cloth. The fabric is
+exceedingly strong, and, I have been informed, rather improves in
+colour after every successive washing.
+
+Piña handkerchiefs and scarfs are in very general use by the Manilla
+ladies, although they are rather expensive; the price of the former,
+when of good quality, being from about five to ten pounds sterling
+each, while for a scarf of average quality and colour about thirty
+pounds is paid. The coarser descriptions can be had for much less
+money than the sums mentioned; and the finest qualities would cost
+from three to four times more than the amounts I have set down.
+
+Besides the piña there is also a sort of cloth made by the natives
+called jusè (pronounced husè), or siriamaio, which makes very beautiful
+dresses for ladies. It is manufactured from a thread obtained from
+the fibres of a particular sort of plantain tree, which is slightly
+mixed with pine-apple thread; and the fabric produced from both of
+these is very beautiful, being fine and transparent, and looking,
+to the unaccustomed eye, finer than the ordinary sort of piña cloth.
+
+It can be made of any pattern, and is generally striped or checked
+with coloured threads of silk mingled with the other two descriptions.
+
+The manufacture of both these articles is carried on to a small extent
+in the immediate neighbourhood of Manilla; but in the provinces of
+Yloylo and Camarines the best jusè is produced, the price of which is
+very much lower than piña, as a lady's dress of it may be got at from
+seven to twenty dollars; and for the latter amount a very handsome
+one would be obtained.
+
+In addition to these manufactures, which the natives have appropriated
+and made their own, from the greater facilities found in the
+Philippines than in other places less adapted by nature for their
+prosecution, the Government has been at some pains to force them
+to engage in the manufacture of cotton yarn and cloth by imposing
+high duties on those descriptions of foreign manufactured goods
+most suitable for the native dress, either from their partiality to
+particular colours, or from other causes.
+
+And for this reason solely a number of kambayas of blue and white
+checks are made in the country by the native hand-loom, these colours
+being in general favourite ones of the Indians; the custom-house
+duty on such goods, and on other favourite colours, being 15 and 25
+per cent., according to the flag of the vessel importing them; the
+Spaniards guarding their own shipping, and securing to it a monopoly
+of the carrying trade by that difference of the import duty. Should
+these goods come from Madras, which is their native country, the duty
+charged on them is 20 and even 30 per cent.
+
+Although these rates of duty may be considered high enough, they
+are in reality very much more than that per-centage, because the
+duty is charged by the authorities on a very high fixed valuation,
+or on the _ad valorem_ principle, which actually is equivalent to
+increasing the rates of duty, were that only charged upon the actual
+market price. Since the beginning of this year (1851), however,
+I understand some changes have been made in the tariff by altering
+the valuations of goods.
+
+Kambayas are used as sayas, or outer petticoats, by the native or
+Mestiza girls, and are generally made of cotton cloth, although,
+of late, jusè and silk sayas appear to be more generally worn than
+they used to be.
+
+Tapiz of silk and cotton is also manufactured in the country. This
+piece of dress is used as a sort of shawl, and is wrapped tightly
+round the loins and waist, above the saya, being generally a black
+or dark blue ground, with narrow white stripes upon it, which, when
+the garment is worn, encircles the body.
+
+The great advantage which the natives have over foreign manufacturers
+of these coloured cloths consists not so much in the duty, although
+that is an immense protection, as in the quickness with which they
+are able to meet the changes of taste in the patterns and designs
+of such fancy goods. For it is evident that before designs of new
+styles can reach Great Britain, and the goods be manufactured there,
+and shipped off to Manilla, many months must elapse, during which the
+native manufacturers have been supplying the market with these new and
+approved styles of goods, and of course reaping all the advantages of
+an active demand, exceeding the supply, by the high prices obtainable
+for the new designs. For the market of Manilla varies as much, and
+the tastes of the people are as inconstant and capricious with regard
+to their dress, as the natives of almost any country can be.
+
+It will scarcely be believed, that in this remote quarter of Asia,
+many of the natives of the country are as much _petits maîtres_ in
+their own way, as a gallant of the Tuileries or of St. James's. It
+would astonish most people to see some of these poor-looking Indians,
+or Mestizos, wearing a jewel of the value of four or five hundred
+dollars in the breast of their shirts, or in a ring on their fingers.
+
+No doubt some of them prefer keeping their money in this way, as it is
+easily transportable, and is always about their persons, to leaving
+their dollars or gold ounces concealed somewhere about their houses,
+from which they may frequently be obliged to be absent. Though, as
+it is a common custom for the natives to have a piece of bamboo in
+which to deposit their ready-money, and as there is so much bamboo
+work about the house, of course it is not very difficult for them
+to select one piece, which from its being out of the way, and rather
+unapproachable, renders it a secure deposit for their hoards.
+
+Towels, napkins, and table-cloths, are also manufactured by them, from
+the cotton of the country, and Governor Enrile taught some of their
+weavers how to make canvas from cotton. It is now very extensively
+used by the native shipping, and bears the name of the distinguished
+and philanthropic individual who taught them how to make it, being
+known by the name of _Lona de Enrile_, which name may it long bear,
+and remain as the most honourable memento any governor could leave
+behind him, of his beneficent and wise interest in the affairs and
+administration of an important colony.
+
+At several places in Luzon, and in Cebu, &c., the natives make
+a species of cloth from the plantain-tree, known by the names of
+_Medrinaque_ and _Guiara_ cloths. The former description is in the
+greatest consumption, being stouter and more valuable than the other
+sort, and is mostly all bought up by the natives themselves, although
+a small portion of it is also exported.
+
+The bulk of all the _Medrinaque_ exported goes to the United States,
+to the extent of about 30,000 pieces annually; and sometimes as much
+as double that quantity is sent, although last year there were only
+about 23,000 pieces purchased for that market, a large quantity having
+gone to Europe, which is a novel feature of the trade in the article.
+
+Although the silkworm is bred to some small extent in the country,
+the silk manufacture is not extensively carried on, as the market can
+so easily and quickly be supplied from China with any description of
+goods in demand. Some articles of dress are, however, successfully
+made by the Indians, to oppose the China silks in the market, such
+as tapiz for the women, and panjamas for the men.
+
+In various parts of the country, the manufacture of earthenware is
+pursued to a small extent. It is generally of a very coarse description
+for cooking purposes, water-jugs, &c., and does not interfere with
+the sale of the finer China ware, with which the natives are supplied
+for most of their household purposes by the Chinese dealers in the
+article, that of China make being very much finer than any they have
+as yet produced in the country.
+
+In the colours and patterns of their dresses the natives are great
+dandies; the women, as usual, being more particular in those affairs
+than the men. Very seldom, indeed, does a native Indian or Mestiza
+beauty sport the same saya for two gala days consecutively. And a
+very large proportion of their earnings are spent in self-adornment,
+their _tanpipes_, or wardrobes, being very well supplied with clothes,
+all of them of different patterns. Blue and purple appear to be the
+colours most admired, because, although the tastes and caprices of the
+people may vary in an infinite degree as to the patterns or styles of
+their dresses, they do not differ much in their choice of the colours
+which compose them. A dark complexioned beauty is never improved
+by a yellow dress; and any woman at all old or ugly looks hideous
+indeed when dressed in that colour. Apparently the Government were
+not ignorant of this when they imposed a heavy duty on blue, purple,
+or white articles of dress, and allowed yellow and other colours
+disliked by the natives to come into the country on the payment of a
+less duty. They have even gone the length of allowing yellow cotton
+twist of foreign manufacture to be imported duty free.
+
+Truly this was very cunning of them--this apparent liberality to
+a foreign nation, ignorant that the colour would scarcely ever be
+used. Its affected moderation would most certainly tend to stop any
+complaints which might be made about the high duties imposed on our
+manufactures imported into the colony.
+
+But perhaps the authorities had some design on the native beauties,
+when they held out such an inducement for them to wear unbecoming
+dresses. Who can say if the official who drew the scheme up had not
+a wife, jealous of the influence of some dark Indian beauty, to whom
+she thus held out the inducement of cheap dress, to disarm the power
+of her charms! Or, it may be, as the priests are at the bottom of
+most things in Spain, who can tell but their influence was exerted
+to get this law passed in the pious hope of inducing those feelings
+of self-abasement and humility which the sense of being ugly, or even
+plain-looking, generally induces among the fair?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+Besides those already mentioned, there are several other branches of
+manufacture successfully pursued in different places throughout the
+country, although none of them are very extensive.
+
+Among others, that of hat-making may be mentioned. It is practised
+principally at a village called Balignat, in the province of Bulacan;
+and is also carried on to a smaller extent in Pangasinan, Camarines,
+and Yloylo.
+
+The hats are made from the cane, the fibres of which, employed in
+their construction, very much resemble the materials of those made at
+Leghorn, of straw. They are made both black and white, and are used
+almost universally by the native population, at times when the heat
+of the sun does not require the _salacod_ as a protection to the
+head. These are made of cane also, but are much thicker, heavier,
+and wider, and are shaped like a flat cone, so that the rays of the
+sunbeams are deflected from it, in place of being concentrated on
+the brain, as they are by the shape of the European hat.
+
+A large number of Balignat hats are exported to the Australian
+colonies, and to China and Singapore, as well as a few to the United
+States.
+
+Cigar cases, or covers, are made to a small extent in the neighbourhood
+of Manilla, and most of the patterns used for them are pretty,
+gay-looking affairs. The fineness of these pouches or cases varies
+to an almost infinite extent, and so does the price they sell at.
+
+The mats on which the natives all sleep are largely manufactured, and
+employ a great number of people, as everybody throughout the island
+uses one or more of them. Some of those made in Laguna province are
+finer and better finished than any others I have seen elsewhere. They
+are plain or coloured, and of all patterns, and could be manufactured
+to any degree of fineness, according to the price promised to the
+workmen.
+
+Ropemaking is extensively carried on; the best cordage manufactured
+in the islands being made from the fibres of the plantain-tree,
+which is known in commerce by the name of Manilla hemp.
+
+At Santa Mesa, in the neighbourhood of Manilla, the rope is spun up
+by the aid of steam and good machinery, established there for the
+purpose, and still carried on by an old shipmaster, who produces by
+far the best rope of all that is made. It is also manufactured in
+several other places by the common hand-spun process, but from being
+unequally twisted when made by the hand, it is very much inferior to
+what has been subjected in its manufacture to the uniform steadiness
+of pull which the regularity of the steam machinery occasions, all of
+which is consequently much more suited to stand a heavy strain, from
+being twisted by it. The price of this rope is altogether dependent
+on the price of hemp, as the value of the labour employed seldom
+or never varies, although the raw material of which it is composed
+constantly does; the usual addition made to the current price of hemp
+being four dollars a pecul of 140 lbs. English, for the machine-made
+rope, generally known as "Keating's patent cordage," supposing the
+material so spun to be converted into an assorted lot of from one to
+six-inch cordage.
+
+The hemp employed in the manufacture of the patent cordage is generally
+selected for its length of fibre, and lightness or whiteness of
+colour; and when whale-lines are made, only the very finest lots of
+hemp procurable at the time are used; but the charge for spinning
+them is increased to six dollars a pecul, the extra labour being
+so considerable, that even with the additional charge, the maker,
+Mr. Keating, informed me that he was much better recompensed by the
+larger sizes of the rope he spun than by these.
+
+Bale or wool lashing is also made to a small extent for shipment to
+Sydney, &c.; the quality of the hemp used in making it being of an
+inferior description, and of a brownish colour. As it is very much
+more loosely twisted than any other descriptions of rope made here,
+the charge for spinning it is reduced to two dollars per pecul, and
+the cost of it will be that amount added to the price of hemp at the
+time of its manufacture.
+
+The hand-spun rope never sells so well as that made by machinery,
+and is usually obtainable at from one to two dollars per pecul less
+than the latter, according as it is well or ill spun.
+
+The export of rope varies from about 9,000 to 15,000 peculs annually;
+by much the largest quantity usually going to the United States,
+although there are considerable shipments to the Australian colonies,
+China, Singapore, and Europe. A large quantity of it is also taken
+by vessels visiting the port, for their own use.
+
+The manufacture is encouraged by its freedom from any export duty,
+to which hemp exported in an unmanufactured state is subject, to the
+extent of 2 per cent.
+
+Besides this cordage, there is another sort of rope made at the Islan
+de Negros, from a dark-coloured plant,--a description of rush,--which
+is found growing there in abundance; and as it is not damaged by
+exposure to the influence of water, it is very extensively used by
+the native coasting-vessels of small size for cables, for which it
+is found to answer very well.
+
+Soap is made to a small extent at Quiapo, in Manilla; and is, I
+understand, shipped to Sooloo and Singapore for sale. But it is not
+consumed to any great extent in the Philippines, except for washing
+clothes, &c., the natives preferring to employ a red-coloured root,
+called _gogo_, for their own personal ablutions.
+
+This root may be said to be a sort of natural soap, as it serves the
+same purposes. After being steeped in water for a few minutes, if the
+water be violently agitated, or if the _gogo_ be rubbed between the
+hands in the water, a white foam is produced, which exactly resembles
+soap bubbles, and assists the purification of the skin even better
+than soap does, being assisted by the fibres of the root, which are
+usually made to do the duty of a flesh-brush in the bath. When using
+it, however, it should not be allowed to get into the eyes, as any
+water impregnated with its bubbles, will inflame them very severely.
+
+So far as I recollect, those that I have quoted are the most important
+articles manufactured in the country, and they are more numerous and
+important, considering the state of society in Manilla, than might be
+looked for. They well exemplify the ingenuity of the people, which is
+very much more lively than that of any other Oriental nation within
+the limits of the Indian Archipelago.
+
+Although cigars may be considered as manufacture, I propose classing
+them with tobacco, which will be found in the list of the agricultural
+produce of the islands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+The import trade of Manilla is almost entirely in the hands of the
+British merchants established there, so far as the great staple
+articles of manufactured goods are concerned; although a quantity
+is regularly furnished to supply the demands of the market by the
+Chinese, whose earthenware, iron cooking utensils, silks, cloths, and
+curiosities, are very plentiful at Manilla, and are indeed obtainable
+over all the country without much difficulty.
+
+Among the produce of our looms, especially those of Manchester and
+Glasgow, which are at all times saleable here, may be mentioned
+shirtings, both white and grey, long-cloths, domestics, drills,
+cambrics, jaconets, twills, white and printed, bobbinet, gimp lace,
+cotton velvet, sewing thread, cotton twist of certain colours,
+principally Turkey red, Turkey red cloth, prints of various sorts,
+chiefly Bengal stripes, furniture prints, and Turkey red chintz prints,
+kambayas, and ginghams, which being cheaper, are gradually taking
+the place of kambayas; indigo blue checks, imitation piña cloth,
+blue and striped chambrays, grandrills, trouser stuffs of various
+sorts, chiefly of cotton, and mixed cotton and wool; handkerchiefs
+of many descriptions, known as Kambaya handkerchiefs, Turkey red
+bandanas, fancy printed, light ground checked handkerchiefs, Scotch
+cambric handkerchiefs, &c.; broad-cloth, cubicoes, lastings, orleans,
+gambroons, long ells, camlets, carriage lace, both broad and narrow,
+canvas, cordage, iron, lead, spelter, steel, cutlery, ironmongery,
+earthenware, glassware, umbrellas and parasols of cotton and silk,
+&c., as well as India beer, which, though last mentioned, is not the
+common sort of beer, nor the least profitable or pleasant of them all.
+
+It may be well to mention here, that the provincial traders generally
+arrive at Manilla in the month of November, soon after the rains have
+ceased, although they sometimes do not make their appearance till
+December, when they set about making their purchases, and returning to
+their places of abode as quickly as possible, to sell the merchandize
+they take with them. If they are successful, and drive a prosperous
+trade, which is regulated by a variety of accidents, the principal
+features affecting it being probably the success of the rice crop,
+they then write to their agents in Manilla to continue purchases of the
+goods which they find to be of the most saleable descriptions in their
+different districts, so that it is not until they have ascertained the
+temper of the market, during the sale of their first lots, that their
+largest purchases begin to be made, through their agents at Manilla,
+who, from this circumstance, usually do their most extensive business
+during the months of February, March, and April; and, in consequence,
+these months may be considered as the best seasons of the year for
+the sale of piece goods in that market.
+
+The rainy season commencing in June, puts a stop to the activity
+of trade, which usually goes on until its near approach. For
+although there is a demand throughout the year for plain cottons,
+and similar articles of general use, the trade in coloured goods is
+almost suspended during the continuance of wet weather, and as the
+traffic in kambayas, ginghams, handkerchiefs and all other coloured
+and fancy goods, is by very much the most important description of
+trade carried on at Manilla, the commerce of the place languishes
+considerably during the continuance of the rainy season.
+
+The goods imported from the Peninsula are of very small value,
+consisting principally of wines, olive oil, and eatables of various
+descriptions; for wherever a Spaniard lives, he would be quite unhappy
+without his _garbanzos_ or _frijoles_.
+
+From Germany and France also various descriptions of manufactures are
+sent, such as cutlery, toys, glass, furniture, pictures, &c., &c., in
+fine, an endless catalogue of small wares of that description. Having
+never seen any complete statement of the quantity, value, or proper
+description of the merchandise imported into the Manilla market,
+on which I should be inclined to place any reliance, owing to the
+absolute impossibility of collecting correct statistical information
+of the sort at that place, I do not presume to furnish such to the
+reader, even with that explanation.
+
+The goods imported from Liverpool or Glasgow, from which very large
+quantities of coloured goods are sent here, are always shipped in
+Spanish vessels at a very high rate of freight, being generally
+about double what British ships would be glad to take them for, did
+not the differential duties in favour of the Spanish flag put all
+this carrying business beyond their reach. A very large--in fact,
+probably by much the greatest--quantity of goods, is in consequence
+of this navigation law, carried by British shipping from our seaports
+at home to Singapore and Hong Kong, where, after having to stand
+several charges for coolie hire, landing, storing, and warehouse rent,
+till such time as a disengaged Spanish vessel for Manilla makes her
+appearance, and the number of goods at either of these intermediate
+ports accumulates in sufficient quantity to form a cargo to load her,
+they have to remain of course at a considerable loss, not only of
+the interest of money locked up in them, but besides the new charges
+for freight, insurance, &c., which must be incurred upon them, when
+transhipped to the place of their destination.
+
+In order further to protect their own shipping against the competition
+of other countries, they hold out the inducement to merchants exporting
+manufactures to Manilla, to embark them in a Spanish ship in Europe,
+by making the duties less on the goods so imported, to those merely
+brought from a short distance from our settlements in the neighbourhood
+of Manilla. The following are the rates:--
+
+When coming in a Spanish vessel direct from Europe, they pay 7
+per cent.
+
+When coming from Singapore, their voyages to that place and back again,
+occupying about three months, including the time the vessel is in
+that port,--as although the monsoon is fair one way, it is certain
+to be opposed to the ship on the other, except just at the time of
+its turning,--goods from it pay 8 per cent.
+
+When coming from Hong Kong, to and from which place the monsoons are
+equally favourable at all times of the year, and the usual average
+voyage of Spanish ships is about ten days either going or coming,
+they pay 9 per cent.
+
+These regulations are hard enough on our shipowners, whose vessels,
+going over to Manilla to load cargo there for all parts of the world,
+seldom or never can procure any freight to that place; or if they do,
+it is only to a very insignificant amount, only consisting of something
+which the owner is in a hurry for, and is willing to pay the large
+differential duty upon, to get it quickly, which of course is a case
+of very rare occurrence. But to prevent the frequent occurrence of
+this, any foreign ship bringing no more than even one small package
+of inward cargo, is required to pay heavier port charges than she
+would do if coming in without it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+Besides the sale of foreign manufactures and merchandise in the
+Philippines, there exists a great outlet for it in the islands of
+Sooloo and Mindanao, although in the present state of society in
+those islands, where the insecurity of life and property is very
+great, the natural advantages of these countries have not been at all
+adequately developed. In front of Zamboanga, the last town towards
+the south which recognizes the authority of the Government of Manilla,
+is situated the island of Sooloo, which, although not of great size,
+is the centre of an active trade during certain months of every year,
+as great numbers of the natives of the neighbouring islands frequent
+it at those seasons, in order to dispose of the produce of their
+fisheries or to sell the slaves whom they have kidnapped or captured
+during their piratical cruizes and attacks on their neighbours, if
+at war with them, as some of them usually are with each other. From
+Manilla some small vessels are annually fitted out for the trade,
+which is nearly altogether in the hands of the Chinese dealers,
+as no persons except themselves would stand the bad treatment they
+are subjected to by the authorities of the place; the character of
+the Celestial people leading them to suffer any amount of bad usage
+provided they are paid for it, or can make money by it, which they
+somehow manage to do, even in Sooloo, although they are exposed to
+the almost unlimited plunder and extortion of the Sultan and Datos, or
+native chiefs, who, on the least occasion, or pretext for it, capture
+and enslave or confine them, only allowing these unfortunates to
+regain their very unstable liberty by presents or extortionate bribes.
+
+The vessels engaged in the trade, being brigs or schooners, commonly
+start from Manilla in March or April for Antique, Yloylo, or other
+places, where they can complete a Sooloo cargo, after doing which they
+steer for Zamboanga, to report their cargoes and provide themselves
+with passports at the custom-house there, should they not have done
+so at Manilla.
+
+It is, however, only within these few years that these facilities have
+been given to those engaged in the trade, as formerly the colonial
+ships were forbidden, under a heavy penalty, to touch at any place
+in the Philippines after clearing out for Sooloo from Manilla. In
+spite of this law, however, few of those engaged in the trade had
+virtue sufficient to obey it, and pass these places by, when it was
+so very much to their interest to complete their cargoes there, which
+they could not do elsewhere nearly so advantageously. And the only
+consequence of this absurd old prohibition against their doing so,
+was to involve many of them in long-pending and expensive lawsuits,
+which have often ruined prosperous men.
+
+Besides those _wise_ regulations, there existed some other forms
+equally sensible. For instance, the traders of Bisayao province, who
+send several small craft to Sooloo, which they are close to, were
+compelled to make a tedious voyage to Manilla against the monsoon,
+in order that they might report their cargo for Sooloo and get out
+passes, after which they had to return all the way back again, and
+at length were at liberty to steer for Sooloo.
+
+However, these foolish restrictions were at length put a stop to, and
+the trade encouraged, by the Government establishing a custom-house at
+Zamboanga, where there is at all times a considerable military force.
+
+The Sultan appears to be the most powerful nobleman in the country,
+rather than the sovereign monarch of it. For although the chiefs of
+the islands, or Datos, usually acquiesce in appearance to his will,
+they do so more from fear of his power at the moment than with any
+idea of his legitimate authority, and in effect they very seldom
+comply with his decrees.
+
+The entire people are slaves owned by the Sultan and these Datos,
+who exercise over the unfortunate wretches the worst species of
+tyrannical power; for as these nobles or _reguli_ are subject to
+no law but there own caprice, if any slave displeases his master,
+he can, without the slightest fear of having to give any account
+of the circumstance to a living soul, draw his kris, and murder the
+slave. Of course by so doing, however, he impoverishes himself, as he
+loses the market price of the day for a slave; or should he murder a
+slave belonging to some one else, a Dato is only expected to pay the
+amount he was considered worth by his master, or to give another one
+of his own in exchange for him.
+
+But, notwithstanding all the insecurity of life and property, the
+Chinese annually resort to Sooloo in pursuit of gain, and occasionally
+as many as eight small vessels are seen there at a time, during the
+busy seasons, for trade, just after the changes of the monsoon.
+
+Some of these Chinamen marry and remain in the country, although
+every now and then some of them are obliged to flee from it to
+the Philippines, where the Spanish flag protects them against their
+tyrannical and barbarous pillagers; for as there is no law to appeal to
+as a protection against the chiefs, they are quite at their mercy. The
+Datos themselves decide their quarrels and disputes with each other,
+by arming and assembling all their slaves and those of their friends
+who are willing to help them, and fight it out; but should their
+disputes run very high, or the feud last for any length of time,
+some powerful Dato, or the Sultan himself, interferes, and decides
+it finally by obliging both parties to keep the peace.
+
+The footing on which the trade is carried on with Sooloo is rather a
+strange one; although regulations have at various times been arranged
+between the Spanish government and that court, by which, although
+the Sultan has formally promised to give his guarantee that all goods
+sold by the traders from the Philippines to the Datos shall be paid
+for, yet there are very few of the traders at Manilla who consider
+the pledge of his Highness as of much importance, as it is usually
+only redeemed when his own particular interest requires it. He is,
+in truth, generally absolutely unable to make the nobles fulfil
+their contracts, they being as a body very much more powerful than
+he is. There being little or no money in Sooloo, the trade carried
+on by the Chinese supercargos of the ships frequenting the port is
+principally transacted by barter, they giving their manufactures
+for the produce of their fishery, &c., and for edible birds'-nests,
+tortoise-shell, beche de mer, mother-of-pearl shell, wax, gold-dust,
+pearls, &c.
+
+The profits of those engaged in this trade are very variable, for
+although their goods are all disposed of apparently at enormous prices,
+yet there are so many of them delivered to powerful chiefs, or to the
+Sultan, as presents, or sold to these dignitaries without the traders
+ever being able to get paid for them, that in reality the profit of
+the voyage may he scanty enough, although, were the guarantee of the
+prince to the Manilla government fulfilled, they might he very large
+if the prices at which they had been sold were actually paid to them.
+
+If the debts of the Datos are not paid off at once they are allowed to
+stand over for another year, at which distance of time they are very
+seldom recoverable, good memories being very seldom met with there.
+
+When the result of an adventure is good, the traders look upon these
+presents and bad debts as necessary expenses incurred to conciliate
+the authorities of the place, without whose good-will they would be
+quite unable to prosecute the trade, and in this sort of commerce the
+Chinese are adepts, although no Europeans could manage it, or would
+carry it on while upon such a footing.
+
+The ships most suited for the trade are small vessels, of about 200
+tons, and their cargoes consist of an infinite variety of goods, each
+lot being generally of small value. The invoices of a cargo usually
+cover many pages of paper, and it is no easy matter to make them up
+without the assistance of intelligent Chinese, who have themselves
+been engaged in the traffic, and are well acquainted with the place
+and the people to be dealt with.
+
+Some of the principal cotton manufactures sent to that market from
+Manilla consist of chintz prints, jaconets and mulls, white shirtings,
+cambrics, bandana, kambaya, and other descriptions of handkerchiefs;
+also, iron and hardware, glassware, coarse China earthenware, silk,
+cloths, copper work, &c.
+
+Ships are in the habit of touching at some port of the Philippines,
+generally the Island of Panay, there to load and fill up with
+rice, sugar, tobacco, oil, and several other articles in small
+quantities. Rice is generally taken from its being always in demand
+by the Sooloomen, whose habits and feelings little suit them for its
+production, even when the nature of the country admits of its being
+grown. The Chinese usually take down a large quantity of a kind of
+cloth made in their own country, which habit has substituted for money,
+a piece of it of the usual size being always reckoned as a dollar.
+
+The Sooloomen pay for their purchases in various articles, of which the
+edible birds'-nests are the most valuable. They are classified by the
+traders as of two sorts: white, and feathered; of which, the first sort
+is the most valuable, being generally worth about its weight in silver,
+or if very good, a little more; but should its colour tend to a red
+or darkish tinge, it is depreciated in value and is not worth so much.
+
+The feathered sort, called so because the edible substance, of which
+the Chinamen make soup, is covered by the birds' down and feathers,
+is very much lower in price than the white kind, being worth nearly
+two dollars a pound, or I believe it is generally roughly taken as
+being only about one-tenth part as valuable as the white.
+
+Tortoise-shell they collect and sell at very high prices, the bulk of
+it going over to supply the China market with that article, a small
+quantity only being annually sent to Europe.
+
+Bêche de mer, or tripang, is a sort of fish or sea-slug, found on the
+coral reefs, &c., of the neighbourhood, which, when cured and dried,
+is generally shaped something like a cucumber.
+
+It is minced down into a sort of thick soup by the Chinese, who
+are extremely fond of it,--and indeed with some reason, as when well
+cooked by a Chinaman, who understands the culinary art, the tripang is
+a capital dish, and is rather a favourite among many of the Europeans
+at Manilla.
+
+There are thirty-three different varieties enumerated by the Chinese
+traders and others skilled in its classification; for being brought to
+Manilla in large quantities for that purpose, for the China market,
+it has become a peculiar business of itself by the dealers in it,
+and varies in price, according to quality, from fifteen to thirty
+dollars per pecul of 140 lbs. English.
+
+The slug, when dried, is an ugly looking, dirty brown-coloured
+substance, very hard and rigid until softened by water and a very
+lengthened process of cookery, after which it becomes soft and
+mucilaginous.
+
+Sometimes the slugs are found nearly two feet in length, but they are
+generally very much smaller, and perhaps about eight inches might be
+the usual size of those I have seen, their shape, as before mentioned,
+strongly resembling a cucumber. After being taken by the fisherman
+they are gutted, and then cured by exposure to the rays of the sun,
+after which they are smoked--over a fire, I believe--when the curing
+process is completed.
+
+Shark fins, and the muscles of deer, are also exposed for sale by
+the Sooloo people to their Chinese visitors, by whom they are eagerly
+purchased for their countrymen's cookery, both of these articles being
+very favourite delicacies. The first I have never tasted, although
+the flesh of a shark, if cut from some particular parts of his body,
+is far from being bad or unsavoury, if dressed by a China cook. As
+for the sinews of deer, they are very good, and occasionally met
+with at Manilla on the tables of Europeans who enjoy the reputation
+of having good palates.
+
+Mother-of-pearl shell is so well known in Europe, that it is quite
+unnecessary to remark upon it, more than that those coming from Sooloo
+are by much the finest and largest shells of any hitherto known in
+commerce, being superior to those coming from the Persian Gulf.
+
+Pearls are also brought from Sooloo, but they are seldom of any great
+size or value.
+
+Gold is brought to Manilla from the same place, both in dust and in
+small bars, but not in any great quantity.
+
+The ships engaged in this trade are generally absent about six months
+from Manilla, which they leave in March or April, and return to, after
+coasting about and disposing of all their cargoes, in September or
+October; no new voyages being undertaken by them until the following
+year.
+
+During June and July, the most active trade is said to be carried on,
+as the number of traders annually frequenting the island from those
+in the neighbourhood, is much greater than at other times.
+
+Besides the trade with Sooloo, a ship is absent nearly every year
+to Ternate, and other places of the Moluccas, where they usually
+manage to get their goods ashore, without paying the heavy duties
+which the Dutch have imposed upon them. The months of December or
+January being the usual time for starting for the Moluccas, these
+traders generally begin the busy season at Manilla by the purchase of
+grey shirtings and domestics, by adding which to goods very similar
+to those suited for Sooloo, they are enabled to have two strings to
+their bow, should the prices in the Moluccas be low; as they can,
+in that case, stand over to Sooloo in June, when they are usually
+able to dispose of their investments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+The insolence of the Sooloo men has at various times drawn down on
+them the wrath of the Spanish authorities, who, in 1848, and also
+shortly after I left Manilla, towards the end of 1850, were making
+arrangements for punishing them, as they afterwards did, with some
+severity, about the beginning of this year.
+
+The Datos, and their families, are like the old Danes, or Norsemen,
+born to be seamen; and the barbarous state of their native country
+preventing the establishment of a mercantile marine, their energies
+have marked out a scheme of warlike adventure on the sea, to succeed
+in which their natural quickness and duplicity of character eminently
+qualify them.
+
+A young Sooloo chief, whose ambitious or restless temper will not
+permit him to remain an idle man at home, where his passions for
+cruelty and voluptuous excess could scarcely fail to ruin him in
+a few years--surrounded as he is there by slavish dependents, and
+fearless of any higher power, whose authority might act as a check
+on his temper, or force him to control his passions--finds that the
+activity of his mind and body demand more scope for excitement than
+exists at home; and having a bias for the sea, he becomes a pirate
+chief, and scours the neighbouring waters in search of honour as well
+as gain. Under proper influences these men might be taught to divert
+their roving propensities into more peaceful channels. Fitting out
+large and fast-sailing proas, manned by their slaves, and officered
+by kinsmen, their warlike excursions take a wide range, and on some
+occasions their audacity has led them up even to the Bay of Manilla,
+landing on the shores of which, they have plundered the people,
+and carried off some of them to increase the number of their slaves,
+who constitute their principal wealth and power--daring to do this
+when so near as to be almost under the very walls of the capital,
+on which waves the banner of Castile.
+
+On the coasts of the provinces these predatory inroads were not
+uncommon, till General Claveria, in the beginning of 1848, determined
+to punish them severely, and to intimidate them so signally, as to
+prevent any repetition of these offences. Accordingly, having secretly
+fitted out an expedition from Manilla on the 13th February, 1848, the
+steamer on board of which the Governor himself was, anchored between
+the islands of Parol and Balanguinguy. Next day the transports arrived,
+and on that and the following day they reconnoitred the islands,
+and did all the damage they could, by way of reprisal, demolishing
+several piers, and destroying a large quantity of paddy which they
+discovered concealed in a cave in a retired place.
+
+At daybreak, on the 16th February, the troops were disembarked before
+Balanguinguy under cover of a fire from the ships, and after a little
+resistance from the Sooloo men--who were excessively frightened by
+the appearance of the steamers, whose facility of movement they were
+quite unprepared for--the fort, consisting of bamboo, was taken by
+escalade after a brave resistance. The attacking force, consisting
+of about 4000 men, behaved with great coolness and decision, when
+exposed to the enemy's fire and missiles of all sorts, such as arrows,
+javelins, &c. About eighty of the defenders of the place were slain,
+many of them with the desperate bravery--or ferocity if you will--of
+men who neither would give or accept of quarter, having first stabbed
+their wives, children, and useless old men and women. On seeing
+the success of the Spaniards, they formed themselves into a band,
+nearly all of whom perished on the points of the soldiers' bayonets,
+fighting bravely to the last; when the few survivors, seeing their
+companions dead and dying around them, with all the desperation of
+pirates, threw themselves from the walls, which were lofty, preferring
+certain death to the chance of falling into the hands of their enemies
+alive. Fourteen pieces of artillery were found within the place,
+which was destroyed, and preparations were made and acted upon for
+attacking the forts of Sipac and Sungap, both of which were successful.
+
+The Governor, General Claveria, gained at the time a good deal
+of reputation from his soldierly management of the forces at his
+disposal; and when the news reached Spain, he was created the _Conde_
+of Manilla, &c.
+
+On his return from this expedition, a great deal of absurd parade
+was, as is usual with the Spaniards, prepared to welcome him; and the
+General was forced to march under triumphal arches, &c., all of them
+bearing the most glowing inscriptions to the conqueror of the three
+bamboo forts from a race of barbarians, most of whom were unprovided
+with better arms than bows and arrows, spears, &c.; for although they
+had some small cannon, they could not make a proper use of them. Truly
+it was a pity to see the good deeds of the Balanguinguy expedition
+burlesqued by these ridiculous pageants.
+
+The lesson then taught the Sooloo chiefs did not, however, linger long
+in their memories; for their old habits of piracy, and kidnapping
+people for slaves, were resumed almost so soon as the Spaniards
+returned to Manilla.
+
+In 1850, Don Antonio de Urbistondo, Marques de la Solana, came out to
+Manilla as Governor of the Philippines. He was a man whose whole life
+had been passed in the camp, but his reputation had been gained during
+the civil wars in Spain, where he fought for legitimacy by the side of
+Don Carlos against the present queen. Nor did he give up the cause in
+which he had drawn his sword, until Don Carlos himself lost heart and
+forsook it, after which Don Antonio took advantage of the clemency of
+the queen, and swore allegiance to her as his sovereign. His talents
+as a soldier, although they had been displayed against herself,
+were rewarded by a marquisate, and afterwards by the government of
+the Philippines. A person of his character and military education was,
+of course, a most unlikely one tamely to permit an insult to be offered
+to the Spanish flag, or an outrage to be perpetrated in the Philippines
+by the Sooloomen; accordingly, when an instance occurred near the end
+of last year, prompt satisfaction was immediately demanded from the
+Sultan and Datos, who, as usual, accused some of their neighbours,
+with whom they were at variance at the time, of being the authors of
+it; and invited the Spaniards to seek reparation from them sword in
+hand. Accordingly an expedition was fitted out, and, with the Governor
+at its head, sailed for Sooloo in order to awe them, by the alacrity
+and force which the occasion at once called forth, and to establish
+a new treaty which would prevent the recurrence of such acts, and the
+necessity for such expeditions; and it was proposed to punish with no
+light hand those Tonquiles and others of the Samales whom the Sultan
+had accused as the perpetrators of the late aggression.
+
+However, on reaching the principal fort of the Sultan Mahomet Pulalon,
+he found that the Sooloomen would have no communication with him,
+and that they even threatened the envoys sent among them; and at last,
+some guns were, I believe, fired on one of the ships. Immediately after
+this, measures of retaliation were arranged, and were acted upon at
+once; the place off which the fleet was, being attacked and taken,
+and all the forts and villages in the neighbourhood burnt within
+forty-eight hours after the Spanish flag had been insulted. After
+this severe lesson the Sultan and Datos fled, leaving in the hands of
+the Spaniards eight bamboo forts and one hundred and thirty pieces of
+artillery, besides several other warlike stores. All this took place
+very recently, no longer ago than on the last day of February of this
+year (1851). General Urbistondo published to his troops a general
+complimentary order, dated from the fortified residence of one of
+the most powerful Datos; and on the 1st of March the Spaniards were
+in possession of the principal fort of the Sultan. The particulars
+of this expedition I cannot give, having left Manilla shortly before
+the preparations for it began, although, I believe, it consisted of
+three war-steamers and some transports, who carried about 4000 men
+down to Sooloo.
+
+The loss of the Spaniards in the whole affair was 34 men killed,
+with 84 wounded. A very unpleasant circumstance to the army was
+connected with this expedition. Two field-officers, both of them acting
+lieutenant-colonels of separate regiments, showed the white feather
+at the moment of danger; for which, I believe, they have since been
+cashiered, and not shot, as they might have been, had their chief
+not been as merciful as he is brave.
+
+Although this chastisement to the Sooloo men has been severe, it is
+unlikely to restrain the chiefs from their predatory expeditions, at
+least for any length of time; as under the present state of things
+prevailing among them, they have no other objects to exhaust their
+idleness and energetic characters upon, than piratical adventure. But
+were commerce and its emoluments displayed before them, from some
+place in the vicinity of Zamboanga, or from that place itself, the
+civilizing influence which the arts of peace always engender would so
+pervade their minds in a very few years, that their habits would be
+changed, and the blessings of education, religion, and peace, might
+be expected to civilize and elevate their minds. Their energies and
+seamanship would then be in requisition as the navigators of all
+the Archipelago, and to carry in their native vessels the produce
+of the fertile inland districts of Mindanao, and of Northern Borneo,
+to the great mart which Zamboanga would become, should it fortunately
+be made an open port of trade for the people of all nations.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+The coasting trade, which is a very important nursery for the marine
+of the Philippines, is carried on exclusively by the national vessels,
+no foreign ships being allowed to engage in it.
+
+Manilla, being the only port open to the foreign merchants, is the
+grand emporium or centre to which nearly all the productions of the
+islands are brought, which regulation gives employment to an infinite
+number of colonial shipping, in carrying them to that market. Every
+day there are several arrivals from the various sea-ports of the
+different districts of the islands, of brigs, schooners, pontines,
+galeras, caracoas, and pancos, all of them being curious specimens
+of every variety of ship-building, from the black and low snake-like
+schooner, or handsome brig, to the most rude description of vessel
+built. Where iron nails are scarce and expensive, some of these are
+fastened together apparently in a manner the most unsatisfactory
+possible for their crews or passengers, should they have to encounter
+a gale of wind during their voyages.
+
+Nearly the whole of the coasting trade is in the hands of the Indians,
+or Mestizos of Chinese descent, called _Sangleys_, although several
+Spaniards and European Mestizos at Manilla also own a better class of
+ships than those described, constantly engaged in going and returning
+from the provinces.
+
+Still, from some cause or other, they do not appear to carry the on
+trade so successfully as the provincial shipowners, most of whom have
+only one or two small vessels, which they keep constantly running
+between their native place and Manilla, and whose sole business
+it is, after despatching either of them, to purchase up from the
+cultivators of the soil, such small lots of their produce as are
+cheap at the time, such as sugar, rice, &c., which they are able to
+do at greatly lower terms, when buying them by little at a time, than
+it would be possible for the agent of a merchant in Manilla to do,
+whose operations it would probably be necessary should be conducted
+upon a more extensive and quicker scale, and whose knowledge of the
+district and of the vendors could seldom be equal to that of a native
+Sangley, or Indian born among them.
+
+In consequence of all the produce being originally purchased by small
+lots at a time, it is of very variable quality; and on a cargo of
+Muscovado sugar, for instance, being purchased from one of these
+traders by a foreign merchant of Manilla, for exportation, it is
+perfectly essential to open the whole of the bags in which it has
+come up to Manilla from the provinces, and to empty their contents
+into one great heap, which causes it to get well mingled together,
+and ensures the requisite regularity of sample, after which it has
+to be rebagged and shipped off to the foreign vessels that may be
+waiting to receive it in the bay.
+
+Of course the expense of all this is very considerable, for not
+only is there all the labour and cost of bags, &c., incurred twice,
+but there is the freight and insurance by the province vessel, which
+has brought it up to Manilla, to be added to the natural cost of the
+sugar at the place of its growth and manufacture.
+
+All these restrictions on trade affect the quantity of sugar sold
+by the native planters, and in a very material degree depress the
+agricultural activity of the people, who suffer from them. But probably
+there are no greater sufferers from such restrictive regulations than
+the Government which so ignorantly sustains or has imposed them. So
+little anxious have they been to encourage the trade, that formerly,
+at various times, they very nearly all but ruined it, by imposing
+import duties on all the produce of the provinces that came to
+Manilla from them, for sale. This, added to the export duties at
+the time of its shipment to foreign markets, so much increased the
+cost of those articles in Manilla, that the foreign merchants there,
+finding they could procure similar merchandise at other places for less
+money, of course would not buy it; and the native traders, finding
+their produce unsaleable except at losing prices, could not make any
+further purchases from the native agriculturists, which caused so much
+distress in the country, that the provinces got into a high state of
+disaffection on several occasions, from the same cause; upon seeing
+which the Government were wise enough to repeal their restrictive
+laws, and allow the free interchange of commodities between all the
+provinces of the Philippines.
+
+For instead, as was supposed, of its falling upon the exporting foreign
+merchants, and on those who bought their cargoes of Manilla produce
+from them at the port of discharge, the tax fell upon the native
+agriculturists, inasmuch as they had to reduce the former prices of
+all their produce which paid the tax, and to equalise them to the
+rates at which similar merchandise was procurable in other markets,
+where no tax of the sort existed;--and this, of course, compelled the
+cultivators of these articles in the Philippines to sell the produce
+of their farms for less money than they formerly obtained for the same
+goods. By so doing, it was equivalent to reducing the former wages of
+their labour, or of the produce of their land--the effects of which
+were speedily felt and comprehended by them, although some of the
+officials, who imposed it, might scoff at the causes they assigned,
+and reiterate their crude and erroneous notions of political economy,
+to prove that it could not affect them, but must be paid by the great
+merchants, or by the consumers of their produce in Europe. They quite
+forgot that these could be supplied with the same things from other
+places, where they were not subjected to the tax, and of course were
+procurable cheaper.
+
+Owners of vessels suitable for the coasting trade, who reside
+in Manilla, have one advantage over the provincial ship-builders;
+namely, that when the government service gives employment to shipping,
+they are in a better position for offering for it, than persons at
+a distance from the capital can be.
+
+The freight of tobacco, for instance, gives a good deal of employment
+to ships, and as government rates are in general rather better than
+any charters obtainable from private merchants, the procuring of
+a government contract for carrying any of the articles which they
+monopolize, of which the above-mentioned is one, is an object of some
+competition. These freights are usually settled by tenders, sealed and
+delivered to an officer appointed to receive them, by the Yntendente,
+or officer at the head of the Finance Department. I was acquainted
+with a gentleman, who, having several idle vessels suitable for
+this carrying trade, was of course most anxious to get the contract,
+to give employment to his ships; and having found out who the other
+contractors for it were, and all of them happening to be cautious
+men, not likely to offer for it at a losing price, he resolved to
+play a bold game, and made his tender for the conveyance of it out
+in some such words as these: "I offer freight for the tobacco, at
+one _cuarto_ less than any body else will take it at," and signed
+his name; a _cuarto_ being the very smallest copper coin current at
+Manilla. Of course he got the contract; which--as he anticipated from
+knowing the men who offered for it--turned out to be a very good one;
+and, as the Yntendente of the time was an intimate friend of his,
+he ran little risk of being taken advantage of, by a lower sum being
+named to him as the lowest tender than what was actually the case.
+
+Nearly all the tobacco collected in Cagayan is yearly brought to
+Manilla during the north-east monsoon. The contracts for this purpose
+generally embrace a term of three or four years, during which the rate
+paid by Government to the person who engages to bring all the bales
+(or cases) of it which they may require at one fixed freight, never
+fluctuates, even although the amount shipped by them is very much in
+excess of the usual quantity, and he may be forced to charter vessels
+from his neighbours at a much higher rate than the Government pay him,
+in order to fulfil the conditions of his contract. Considerable care
+is requisite in loading this tobacco, as, should there be a mistake
+made even of one bale, the contractor is forced to account for it to
+Government at the price they sell it at, which is about three times
+as much as they pay for it; and this regulation is no doubt found to
+be very requisite, in order to prevent fraud.
+
+After the tobacco has been manufactured into cigars, the contractor
+has to deliver it at various stations throughout the islands, these
+places being generally the head-quarters of the fiscal or _estanco_
+department of the different maritime provinces from which the other are
+supplied. Besides the coasting trade from the provinces to Manilla,
+and that in the government service, there is a trade carried on
+by various provinces between themselves, such as conveying rice or
+paddy from the grain-districts to other provinces where less of it
+is grown, from the attention of the natives being directed to some
+other agricultural produce more suitable than paddy to their soil and
+climate, as from Antique to Mindora or Zamboanga, or from the island
+of Samar to that of Negros, or to Mesamis. Thus in the hemp provinces,
+little paddy is planted, as it is more profitable for them to make
+hemp, or to weave Sinamais cloths, &c., than to do so. This commerce,
+however, is not of any great extent; the principal--indeed the only
+great--market of the country being Manilla, where traders from all
+parts of the Archipelago meet to buy and sell.
+
+It has been mentioned elsewhere that foreign men, as well as foreign
+ships, are at present excluded from engaging in the provincial trade;
+which is about as illiberal and unwise an act as any country could
+be guilty of, and should be changed, not for the benefit of foreign
+traders, but for the good of the country.
+
+In connexion with the province trade, the naval school ought to be
+mentioned, as it is a most useful institution, where arithmetic,
+geometry, and navigation are taught gratuitously, at an expense to
+Government of nearly 2,400 dollars a-year.
+
+The President of the Chamber of Commerce is also President of the
+school, and the members of that body have the privilege of admitting
+the pupils--a right which I believe they exercise liberally. At this
+place, boys are very well trained up in the scientific and theoretical
+part of their profession; but unfortunately, from some cause or other,
+their education afterwards as practical seamen does not keep pace with
+it, and they generally are as much behind our British or American
+shipmasters in all relating to the sea, as can be well conceived,
+although they are not unfrequently superior to them, and at least
+are equal, in their theoretical attainments.
+
+At this school, many of the Creoles and Mestizos of Manilla have
+shown to the world that they did not want the ability to learn,
+when they had good masters to instruct them; but good heads and
+hands are seldom found together. In fact, I rather think that the
+lads educated here are taught too much (if that be possible), and
+by being so, have their ideas raised above their stations; for many
+of them are, by a great deal, much more like gentlemen than a number
+of the merchant skippers or mates in our British ships, whose horny
+fists and tar-stained dress make few pretensions to outward gentility.
+
+Among the province-trading vessels lying at anchor in Manilla
+river, there are at all times to be seen some curious specimens of
+ship-building, few of them being insurable.
+
+Some of these coasters, although nearly all shaped in the European
+style, have almost the whole of their rigging constructed of ropes
+made from the bamboo, and are fitted with anchors made from ebony
+or some other heavy wood, having occasionally a large piece of stone
+fastened to them, to insure their sinking. The cables to which they
+are attached are generally of a black rush, like sedge, or of bamboo;
+but in the event of a gale, I should say that their crews had great
+need never to embark in these frail shells, except when well assured
+of being at peace with God and man.
+
+In ordinary years these vessels are laid up for several months every
+season, as it would most probably be certain destruction for any of
+them to attempt proceeding to sea from October till December.
+
+Although a large proportion of the colonial-built vessels are bad,
+still there are a few constructed in the country which would be
+considered fine ships in any part of the world.
+
+When a good vessel is built there, the first voyage she makes is
+usually to Spain, if she can get a freight; and after discharging
+her cargo, her next voyage is to a British port, in order that she
+may be fitted with copper bolts and iron work, under the inspection
+of Lloyd's surveyor; after which her character is established, and
+she is classed A 1 ship for a term of years.
+
+But notwithstanding these ships being placed in Lloyd's books,
+the insurance offices can seldom be persuaded to accept of risks
+even in first-class vessels, when their crews are Spaniards, on
+the same favourable terms at which risks are freely taken on good
+British ships. They almost invariably demand an increased premium,
+and occasionally decline risks by them altogether.
+
+Now, although bad management sometimes occurs on board of Spanish
+ships, our own are not exempt from it; and I believe that prejudice
+causes them to refuse the insurance as much as anything else.
+
+The Dons have got a bad name as seamen, and very true is the elegant
+proverb, "Give a dog a bad name, and hang him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+Nearly the whole of the produce of the Philippines is exported from
+Manilla by the foreign merchants resident there, none of the Spaniards
+being engaged in commerce to anything like the same extent as the
+foreigners are; the few British and the two American houses doing
+an immensely greater amount of business than the whole transactions
+of all the Spanish merchants, numerous though they be. The trade of
+my countrymen consists principally in selling cotton manufactured
+goods, and in purchasing the produce of the islands for export;
+while the business of the Americans, who sell few goods, consists
+almost entirely in purchasing produce for the markets of the United
+States, and elsewhere. The Chinese are also large importers of their
+country's manufactures, curiosities, and nick-knacks, and also very
+considerable exporters.
+
+The statistical data embodied in the following tables will inform the
+reader pretty exactly of the amount of exports from the Philippines,
+with the exception of the single article of rice, immense quantities
+of which are carried over to China by Spanish ships, which load it
+at the districts where it is grown; for as the Government charge no
+export duty on its exportation in ships bearing the national flag,
+they are allowed to depart from the general rule of all vessels being
+obliged to load at Manilla while shipping cargo for foreign ports,
+if they are merely taking rice on board, and nothing else.
+
+It is right, however, to inform the reader, that although the subjoined
+table may approach very nearly to the truth in most respects, as it
+has been gradually and very carefully collected by the largest British
+mercantile establishment at Manilla, the nature of whose business
+requires that they should be as well acquainted with all facts such
+as the table embraces, as from the nature of existing circumstances
+there it is possible to be, yet at that place there is at all times a
+greater or less degree of difficulty in obtaining correct statistical
+information of the trade; and this is considerably increased by the
+Government not choosing to communicate the particulars they collect
+at the Custom-house, erroneous though they be.
+
+In an underhand way, however, these particulars can be obtained from
+some of the Indian copyists employed in that establishment, if they
+are paid for it; and, in fact, they are in the habit of communicating a
+note of the different cargoes of ships coming in, or going away loaded,
+to some of the merchants. Yet these notes are nearly always more or
+less erroneous, from various causes. To obviate these inconveniences,
+several of the principal export merchants are in the habit of mutually
+furnishing each other with a correct statement of the various cargoes
+they ship; but still, as there are many exporters besides themselves,
+some degree of error must pervade even their carefully-gleaned
+information. But there is one thing to be borne in mind, that the
+following table is most likely to be considerably under the truth,
+and certainly is not over it.
+
+
+                     General Statement of Exports from Manilla during 1850.
+
+---------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+---------+----------+-------+----------------
+               |  To    |  To the |  To the  |  To     |   To    |    To    |  To   |
+               | Great  |Continent|Australian| China.  |Singapore|California|United |
+               |Britain.|   of    | Colonies |         | Batavia,| and the  |States.| Total
+               |        | Europe. |          |         |& Bombay.| Pacific. |       |
+---------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+---------+----------+-------+----------------
+Sugar          | 146,926|  50,830 |  142,359 |   --    |  12,749 |  29,144  | 77,919|459,927 peculs.
+Hemp           |  16,073|   5,568 |     --   |   --    |     544 |    --    |102,184|124,367   "
+Cordage        |      96|     476 |    3,753 |  1,732  |     680 |   2,137  |    210|  9,084   "
+Cigars         |  10,319|  11,867 |   12,561 |  9,262  |  26,859 |   1,707  |    914| 73,439 mil.
+Leaf Tobacco   |    --  |  42,629 |     --   |   --    |    --   |    --    |   --  | 42,629 quintals
+Sapan-wood     |  37,068|  14,436 |     --   | 18,942  |  17,337 |    --    |  9,015| 96,798 arrobas.
+Coffee         |     165|   9,670 |    1,481 |    100  |     250 |   1,072  |  2,063| 14,801 peculs
+Indigo         |     259|     213 |     --   |uncertain|    --   |    --    |  3,753|  4,225 quintals
+Hides          |   3,340|     213 |     --   |  1,069  |    --   |    --    |   --  |  4,622 peculs.
+Hide Cuttings  |    --  |    --   |     --   |    536  |    --   |    --    |  2,419|  2,955   "
+Mother-of-pearl|        |         |          |         |         |          |       |
+  Shell        |     820|     338 |     --   |   --    |     260 |    --    |     74|  1,492   "
+Tortoise-shell |   2,081|     580 |     --   |    555  |   1,912 |    --    |    469|  5,597 catties.
+Rice           |    --  |   6,576 |     --   |uncertain|    --   |   1,467  |   --  |Uncertain.
+Beche de Mer   |    --  |    --   |     --   |  4,348  |    --   |    --    |   --  |  4,348 peculs.
+Gold Dust      |    --  |    --   |     --   |  5,068  |    --   |    --    |   --  |  5,068 taels.
+Camagon, or    |        |         |          |         |         |          |       |
+  Ebony-wood   |     235|   1,213 |     --   |    794  |    --   |    --    |   --  |  2,242 peculs.
+Grass-cloth    |     175|  13,252 |     --   |    500  |    --   |     650  | 22,975| 37,552 pieces.
+Hats           |    --  |    --   |    9,400 |  5,115  |   9,115 |     500  | 25,870| 50,000 hats.
+---------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+---------+----------+-------+----------------
+
+
+The quantity of rice and paddy shipped to China from the provinces
+cannot be ascertained with any degree of exactness; what goes from
+Manilla is very small, because, before arriving there, it has, by its
+transport expenses, added to the price at which it is obtainable in
+the districts where it is produced, which, of course, prevents its
+being shipped from the capital. At a guess, however, I should suppose
+that about a million cavans, each of which, one with another, weighs
+about a China pecul, or 133 1/3 lbs, is an average yearly export,
+should the Government not prohibit the article from being exported
+for a longer period than usual, which is annually regulated by the
+scarcity or abundance of food in the country.
+
+From the preceding table, the reader will observe that the exports
+of 1850, when compared with those of 1847, of which the following is
+a statement, have increased in some respects, and fallen off in others.
+
+
+                             Statement of Exports from Manilla during 1850.
+
+---------------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+----------------
+               |  To    | To the  |To the |  To the   |  To the  |   To    |    To    |  To    |
+               | Great  |Continent|United | Pacific   |Australian| China.  |Singapore.|Batavia.|
+               |Britain.|   of    |States.|   and     |Colonies. |         |          |        | Total
+               |        | Europe. |       |California.|          |         |          |        |
+---------------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+----------------
+Sugar          |104,246 |  18,755 | 92,149|   4,150   | 174,777  |   --    |     --   |   --   |394,077 peculs.
+Hemp           | 16,592 |   2,438 | 98,440|    --     |    --    |    300  |    1,888 |   --   |119,658   "
+Cordage        |     20 |     546 |  7,038|     404   |   4,430  |    825  |    1,425 |   --   | 14,688   "
+Indigo         |     58 |      78 |  2,166|    --     |    --    |    149  |      118 |   --   |  2,569 quintals
+Sapan-wood     | 12,055 |  11,960 | 28,891|    --     |     160  |  5,210  |   18,814 |  1,817 | 78,907 peculs.
+Hides          |  1,366 |     183 |  1,821|    --     |    --    |  2,389  |     --   |   --   |  5,759   "
+Hide Cuttings  |   --   |    --   |  1,893|    --     |    --    |   --    |     --   |   --   |  1,893   "
+Gold Dust      |   --   |    --   |   --  |   3,970   |    --    |   --    |     --   |   --   |  3,970 taels.
+Coffee         |   --   |   9,244 |    395|    --     |   4,267  |   --    |     --   |   --   | 13,906 peculs.
+Rice           | 23,760 |   4,520 |   --  |     300   |     772  |uncertain|     875  |   --   |Uncertain.
+Paddy          |  1,870 |  13,978 |   --  |    --     |    --    |uncertain|    --    |   --   |Ditto.
+Cigars         | 16,010 |  11,176 |   548 |     787   |   9,674  |  6,706  |  19,169  |  5,943 | 70,013 mil.
+Leaf Tobacco   |  5,440 | 115,016 |   --  |    --     |    --    |   --    |   5,280  |   --   |125,733 arrobas.
+Mother-of-Pearl|        |         |       |           |          |         |          |        |
+Shell          |    708 |      92 |   --  |    --     |    --    |     16  |    --    |   --   |    816 peculs.
+Grass-cloth    |   --   |    --   | 56,171|    --     |    --    |   --    |    --    |   --   | 56,171 pieces.
+Hats           |   --   |    --   |  1,600|    --     |  10,932  |   --    |   5,560  |   --   | 18,092 hats.
+---------------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+----------------
+
+
+The quantity of hemp shipped during the years 1848 and 1849, was
+greater than the quantity indicated in either of these tables, but
+as the increased export was principally caused by speculation in
+the United States, the average annual export may probably not be
+greater than the amount set down in the table of 1850, although,
+in the previous year, about 30,000 peculs more were shipped.
+
+Of the exports to the continent of Europe only a small proportion
+goes to Spain, probably not exceeding a third part of the quantities
+set down in the table for the continent.
+
+Bremen, Hamburg, and Antwerp, are the three towns in the north
+with which most business is done, and Bordeaux and Havre de Grâce,
+are nearly the only places to which the other exports are shipped
+for Europe, exclusive of the ports of Cadiz, Malaga, and Bilboa,
+in the Peninsula.
+
+Having furnished the preceding tables of the amount of the exports
+from the only outlet for foreign trade with the islands, excepting in
+rice to China, as before mentioned, the reader may be able to form
+some opinion of their veracity and value. And as it may be of some
+service, I shall give a short sketch of each of the most important
+of the articles there set down, premising it with a memorandum of the
+weights and measures now in use through the islands. The pecul is equal
+to 140 lbs. English, or 137 1/2 lbs. Spanish; the Spanish lb. being
+two per cent. heavier than the standard British lb. The quintal is
+102 lbs. English, and the arroba 25 1/2 lbs. English. The cavan is a
+measure of the capacity of 5,998 cubic inches, and is subdivided into
+25 quintas. The Spanish yard, or vara, is eight per cent. shorter
+than the British yard, by which latter all the cotton and other
+manufactures are sold by the merchants importing them, although the
+shopkeepers who purchase them retail everything by the Spanish yard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+It is not my intention, even were it in my power, which it is not,
+to attempt an exact and complete description of all the productions
+of the group of islands composing the Philippines, to which nature
+has with no niggardly hand dispensed great territorial and maritime
+wealth. And as the limits of this work prevent much expansion, I will
+confine the following observations to an outline of the principal
+articles produced in the country, beginning the catalogue with the
+most important of them all, namely, rice.
+
+The cultivation of paddy, or rice, here, as all over Asia, exercises
+by far the greatest amount of agricultural labour, being their most
+extensive article of cultivation, as it forms the usual food of the
+people, and is, as the Spaniards truly call it, _El pau de los Indios_;
+a good or bad crop of it, influencing them just as much as potatoes
+do the Irish, or as the wheat crops do in bread-consuming countries.
+
+In September and October, when, in consequence of the heavy previous
+rains since the beginning of the wet season, the parched land is
+so buried as generally about that time to present the appearance of
+one vast marsh, it is ploughed lightly, after which the husbandman
+transplants the grain from the nurseries in which he had previously
+deposited it, in order to undergo there the first stages of vegetation.
+
+In December, or in January, the grain is ready for the sickle, and in
+general repays his cares and labour by the most abundant harvest. There
+is no culture more easy and simple; nor any which gives such positive
+good results in less time, as only four months pass between the times
+of sowing and reaping the rice crop.
+
+In some places the mode of reaping differs from the customs of
+others. At some places they merely cut the ears from off the stalks,
+which are allowed to remain on the fields to decay, and fertilize
+the soil as a manure; and in other provinces the straw is all reaped,
+and bound in the same way as wheat is at home, being then piled up in
+ricks and stacks to dry in the sun, after which the grain is separated
+by the treading of ponies, the horses of the country, upon it, or by
+other means, when the grain is again cleared of another outer husk,
+by being thrown into a mortar, generally formed out of the trunk of
+some large tree, where the men, women, and children of the farm are
+occupied in pounding it with a heavy wooden pestle, which removes the
+husk, but leaves the grain still covered by a delicate skin. When
+in this state it is known as pinagua; but after that is taken off,
+the rice is clean.
+
+For blowing away the chaff from the grain, they employ an implement
+worked by a handle and a wheel in a box, which is very similar to
+the old-fashioned fanners used in Scotland by the smaller farmers
+for the same purpose.
+
+In the neighbourhood of Manilla, there is a steam-mill for the purpose
+of cleaning rice; and there are several machines worked by horse-power
+throughout the country. But although there are many facilities for the
+employment of water-power for the same purpose, I am not acquainted
+with any mill moved on that principle.
+
+The qualities of rice produced in the different provinces, varies a
+good deal in quality. That of Ylocos is the heaviest, a cavan of it
+weighing about 140 lbs. English, while Camarines rice weighs only about
+132 lbs., and some of the other provinces not over 126 lbs. per cavan.
+
+Although in all the provinces rice is grown to a considerable extent,
+yet those which produce it best, and in greatest abundance, and form
+what may be called granaries for the others, which are not so suitable
+for that cultivation, may be considered to be Ylocos, Pangasinan,
+Bulacan, Capiz, Camarines, and Antique.
+
+It is best to ship rice in dry weather; and should it be destined
+for Europe, or any other distant market, it should leave by the
+fair monsoon, in order that the voyage may be as short as possible,
+to ensure which, all orders for rice purchases for the European
+markets should reach Manilla in December or January, as the new crop
+just begins to arrive about the end of that month. It takes about
+a month to clean a cargo at the steam-mill, and after March, the
+fair monsoon for homeward-bound ships cannot much be depended upon;
+and were the vessel to make a long passage, the cargo would probably
+be excessively damaged by weevils, by which it is very frequently
+attacked. Ylocos rice is considered to be the best for a long voyage,
+as it keeps better than that grown in other provinces.
+
+The price of white rice is rarely below two dollars per pecul, or
+above two and a half dollars per pecul, bagged and ready for shipment.
+
+A hundred cavans of ordinary province rice will usually produce 85
+per cent. of clean white, and about 10 per cent. of broken rice,
+which can be sold at about half the price of the ordinary quality:
+the remaining 5 per cent. is wasted in cleaning.
+
+Rice exported by a Spanish ship, goes free; but if exported by any
+foreign ship, even when it is sent to a Spanish colony, it pays 3
+1/2 per cent. export duty, and when sent to a foreign country by a
+foreign ship, it pays an export duty of 4 1/2 per cent. In order to
+be more explicit, it may be well to give a _pro formâ_ invoice of rice.
+
+
+
+5,000 peculs of white rice, bought ready for shipment
+  at the mill, at $2-1/4 per pecul                          $11,250 00
+
+Charges :--
+
+  Export duty on valuation, which can generally
+    be managed to be got at a good deal under
+    the market price; say at $1-1/2 per pecul,
+    at 4-1/2 per cent.                               $337 50
+  Boat and coolie hire, shipping                     200 00
+                                                     ------
+                                                                537 50
+                                                             ----------
+                                                            $11,787 50
+
+Commission for purchasing and shipping,
+  &c., at 5 per cent.                                           589 37
+                                                            ----------
+                                                            $12,376 87
+
+
+This  is about equal to its price if purchased and cleaned in another
+manner; for instance:--
+
+
+1,000 cavans province rice, costing, say, 10-1/2
+  rials per cavan, =                                         $1,312 50
+
+  will generally produce 85 per cent. clean white
+  rice, fit for shipping, and 10 per cent. broken
+  rice, which can be sold at about 5-1/4 rials
+  per cavan, =                                                   65 62
+
+  thus 150 cavans (equal to about 820 peculs) will           ---------
+  cost                                                       $1,246 88
+
+Add the expenses of receiving on board the native
+  boats, measuring there, landing, re=measuring,
+  cleaning, bags and bagging, averaging from about
+  70 to 80 cents. per pecul of cleaned rice, say at
+  75 cents, =                                                   615 00
+                                                             ---------
+                                                             $1,861 88
+
+
+
+or equal to $2-27/100 per pecul for clean white rice, ready for
+shipment.
+
+_Sugar._--Although the cane is cultivated to a greater or less
+extent throughout all the islands, there are four descriptions of
+sugar well known in commerce, grown in the Philippines, and these
+come respectively from the districts of Pampanga, Pangasinan, Cebu,
+and Saal, after which districts they are named; and the growth of
+other places producing similar sugars to any of these descriptions,
+usually passes under one of these names in the market, although Yloylo
+is sometimes, though rarely, distinguished as a separate quality. The
+mills employed for expressing the juice from the cane are nearly all
+of stone; and firewood is usually employed to boil the sugar; for
+although they have for some years introduced the plan of employing
+the refuse of the cane for that purpose, it is not yet very general.
+
+A large quantity of the Muscovado sugar made in the country, resembling
+the descriptions produced in the provinces of Pampanga and Pangasinan,
+is brought to Manilla for sale, in large conical earthern jars, called
+_pilones_, each of which weighs a pecul. The Chinese or Mestizos who
+are engaged in the purifying of sugar are the purchasers of these lots,
+and most of them are in the habit of sending an agent through the
+country, with orders to buy up as much of such sugar as they require
+to keep their establishments at work. They are in the habit of paying
+these travellers a rial, which at Manilla is the eighth part of a
+dollar, for every pilone he purchases on their account at the limits
+they give him. When enough has been collected in one neighbourhood
+to load a casco or other province boat, it is despatched to their
+camarine at Manilla, where after being taken from the original pilone,
+if it has come from Pampanga, it is mixed up together, and placed in
+another one, with an opening at the conical part, which is placed over
+a jar into which the molasses distilling from it gradually drop, when
+the colour of the sugar from being brown becomes of a greyish tinge.
+
+At the top of the pilone, so placed with the cone turned down, a
+layer of clay is spread over the sugar, as it has the property of
+attracting all the impurities to itself; so that the parts of the
+sugar in the pilone next to the clay are certain to be of the whitest
+and best colour, whilst the sugar at the bottom, or next the opening
+of the cone, is the darkest and most valueless, until it has had its
+turn of the clay; for when the Chinamen perceive that the top part of
+the sugar in the pilone or earthen jar has attained a certain degree
+of whiteness, they separate the white from the darker coloured, and
+the greyish tinged sugar from the dark brown coloured portion at the
+foot of the jar; and after exposing the white and greyish coloured
+to the sun, they are packed up, while the dark brown portion, after
+being mixed with that of a similar colour, is again consigned to the
+pilone to be clayed.
+
+Besides clay, some portions of the stem of the plantain-tree are
+said to have the power of extracting the impurities from sugar, and
+in some districts are said to be preferred to clay for that purpose,
+being chopped up in small pieces, and spread over it.
+
+The unclayed descriptions of sugar are generally procurable at
+Manilla by the end of February, when the new crop commences to come
+in; and clayed, or the new crop, is seldom ready for delivery before
+the middle of March.
+
+The entire crop is all ready for export by the end of April, although
+the market is seldom cleared of it till the January of the ensuing
+year, when the sugar clayers being anxious to close their accounts
+of the past crop, and wind up all that remains in their camarines,
+in order to be ready for the new season's operations, are sometimes
+willing to make a reduction in the nominal price of the day, in order
+to effect that purpose. But as the grain of sugar does not improve
+by keeping, especially when it has to stand the moistness of the
+atmosphere during the preceding wet season, such sugar, if bought at
+that time, is seldom equal in grain to the produce of the new crop,
+although its colour may be preferable.
+
+Pangasinan sugar is of a beautiful white colour, but with a very
+inferior grain: it loses much in the sun-dryings, and is generally,
+I believe, mixed with the clayed Pampanga sugar, to give the latter
+a colour, although all the dealers deny doing it themselves, but are
+ready enough to believe, if told that their neighbours are in the
+habit of mixing both Cebu and it, in their pilones,--the first for
+the sake of cheapness, and the other for a colour. Pampanga sugar is
+of a brownish tinge, and when of good quality, of a strong grain. It
+possesses a very much greater quantity of saccharine matter than any
+other description of sugar I am acquainted with, and is consequently
+a favourite of the refiners at home and in Sweden. Taal and Cebu
+descriptions are never clayed separately, although, as before
+mentioned, the latter, on account of its cheapness, is occasionally
+mixed with Pampanga for claying.
+
+They are principally in demand for the Australian colonies, where Taal
+is generally preferred to Cebu (or Zebu), from its possessing more
+saccharine matter than the latter. Taal is generally so moist that
+it always loses considerably in weight, sometimes to the extent of
+about 10 per cent., and even more;--it is a strong sweet sugar. Cebu
+seldom loses so much as Taal, generally not more than 3 per cent. on
+a voyage of about two months' duration.
+
+All sugar is sold to the export merchants by the pecul of 140
+lbs. English, and it is either paid for at the time of its delivery,
+or if a contract is made for a large quantity with a clayer, or other
+dealer, it is often necessary to advance a portion of the price to
+enable him to execute the order, and the merchants often do this long
+before a pecul of sugar is received from him, or any security given
+in return. This system prevails not only in sugar, but in all other
+articles of the agricultural produce of the islands, in the sale of
+which no credit is given to the purchaser.
+
+Sugar pays an export duty of 3 per cent. It should never be weighed
+except upon a hot dry day, as if there is the least moisture in the
+air it absorbs it, and adds considerably to its weight.
+
+In connection with sugar, it may be stated, that some very good rum is
+made at Manilla, although very little is exported. It is a monopoly
+of the Government, who farm it out to one of the sugar clayers at
+Manilla. Molasses are never shipped, but are used in Manilla for
+mixing with the water given to the horses to drink, most of them
+refusing to taste it unless so sweetened.
+
+Hemp is produced from the bark of a species of the plantain-tree,
+forests of which are found growing wild in some provinces of the
+Philippines. The operation of making it is simple enough, the most
+important of the process apparently being the separation of the
+fibres from each other by an iron instrument, resembling a comb
+for the hair. After drying in the sun, and undergoing several other
+processes, with the minutiæ of which I am unacquainted, it is made
+up into bales, weighing 280 lbs. each, and in that state is shipped
+for Manilla, where, after being picked more or less white, which is
+dependent entirely upon the purposes it is intended to serve, and the
+markets it has to be sent to, it is again pressed into bales of the
+same weight as before, although of much less bulk, and is exported,
+the greater quantity of it going to the United States of America,
+as the export tables will show.
+
+The best hemp is of a long and fine white fibre, very well dried, and
+of a silky gloss. The dark coloured is not so well liked, and if too
+bad for exportation, is generally made up into ropes for the colonial
+shipping, or sent down to Singapore for transhipment to Calcutta,
+where it is employed for the same purpose.
+
+The best hemp comes from Sorsogon and Leyte, and some of the Cebu
+is also very good. Albay, Camarines, Samar, Bisayas, and some other
+districts, are those from which it principally comes.
+
+The freight on hemp shipped by American vessels to the United States,
+is reckoned at the rate of 40 cubic feet, or four bales of 10 feet
+each, to the ton; but when shipped to Great Britain, the freight is
+generally calculated at the ton of 20 cwt., or 2,240 lbs. avoirdupois.
+
+Annexed is a table of calculations of what it will cost if put on board
+a ship in Manilla Bay, including all charges, and 5 per cent. paid
+to an agent there for purchasing it, &c.
+
+
+--------------+-----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------------
+              | If bought |        |        |        |        |        |        |
+              | at $5 per |        |        |        |        |        |        |
+              |   pecul   |        |        |        |        |        |        |
+    At the    |would cost,|   At   |   At   |   At   |   At   |   At   |   At   |   At
+   exchange   |  free on  | $5-1/4 | $5-1/2 | $5-3/4 |   $6   | $6-1/4 | $6-1/2 |   $7
+      of      |   board   |        |        |        |        |        |        |
+--------------+-----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------------
+s. d.         |  £  s. d. |£  s. d.|£  s. d.|£  s. d.|£  s. d.|£  s. d.|£  s. d.|£  s. d.
+4  1     per $| 19   0  6 |19 17  8|20 11  5|21 12  1|22 10  5|23  6  3|24  5  4|26  0  3}
+4  1-1/2  "   | 19   4  5 |20  1  9|20 19  8|21 16  5|22 15  0|23 11  0|24 10  5|25  5  6}Per
+4  2      "   | 19   8  3 |20  5 10|21  3 11|22  0  9|22 19  6|23 15  9|24 15  3|26 10  0}
+4  2-1/2  "   | 19  12  2 |20  9 11|21  8  2|22  5  2|23  4  2|24  0  6|25  0  2|26 16  2}ton
+4  3      "   | 19  16  0 |20 13 11|21 12  4|22  9  7|23  8  9|24  5  4|25  5  1|27  1  6}
+4  3-1/2  "   | 19  19 11 |20 18  0|21 16  8|22 14  0|23 13  4|24 10  1|25 10  1|27  6  9}of
+4  4      "   | 20   3 10 |21  2  1|22  0 10|22 18  5|23 18  0|24 14 10|25 15  0|27 12  1}
+4  4-1/2  "   | 20   7  8 |21  6  1|22  5  1|23  2 10|24  2  6|24 19  7|26  0  0|27 17  5}20
+4  5      "   | 20  11  7 |21 10  2|22  9  4|23  7  3|24  7  2|25  4  4|26  5  0|28  2  9}
+4  5-1/2  "   | 20  15  6 |21 14  3|22 13  7|23 11  8|24 11  9|25  9  1|26  9 11|28  8  0}cwt.
+4  6      "   | 20  19  4 |21 18  3|22 17 10|23 16  0|24 16  4|25 13 10|26 14 10|28 13  4}
+--------------+-----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------------
+
+
+To understand this table, suppose an agent in Manilla purchases a
+quantity of hemp for a merchant in London, at 5 dollars per pecul, the
+cost of packing, shipping, and the 5 per cent. commission for buying,
+&c., will make it cost, when put on board ship in Manilla Bay, 20_l._
+19_s._ 4_d._ per ton, if drawn for at the exchange of 4_s._ 6_d._
+to the dollar. On its arrival at London, the freight, insurance, &c.,
+added to this, will be its actual cost laid down there.
+
+_Tobacco._--The best tobacco produced in the Philippines is grown
+in the Island of Luzon or Luconia, where it is monopolized by the
+Government, to whom it furnishes an important revenue. From the
+province of Cagayan, where the greater part of it is grown, the
+best quality comes, and that leaf, being much stronger than any
+grown elsewhere, is generally used as the envelope to wrap round
+the inferior descriptions of tobacco employed in the manufacture of
+cheroots. Most of the other descriptions used for them come from the
+district of Gapan, in Pampanga province, and the two sorts combined
+are said to produce pleasanter cigars than either separately could
+do,--the Cagayan leaf being too strong to be used alone, and the
+Gapan leaf too mild for the ordinary taste.
+
+In the mountains of Ylocos and Pangasinan, some of the native Indians
+inhabiting them grow quantities of tobacco, which they sell to the
+traders of the neighbourhood. In these mountains the Indians are still
+free, and retain their old pagan religion, unsubdued either by the
+Spanish soldiery, or by the more salutary and effective warfare waged
+against them by the priests, who labour assiduously to convert them
+to Christianity. Being mountaineers, and leading the unsettled and
+roving life of huntsmen, subsisting by the produce of the chase and
+the plaintain-tree, very little is known about them at Manilla beyond
+the fact of their existence, although the well-directed energies
+of several enthusiastic missionaries, who have as yet only found
+an entrance among them, are likely to civilize and ameliorate their
+condition somewhat, and to supply this information. Notwithstanding
+that the mounted police force, scattered over the country, are
+particularly attentive to hunt out all illicit growth of tobacco,
+and to put a stop to it by the severest punishments when it is
+discovered; they have not as yet been, nor in fact are likely to be,
+at all successful in doing so efficiently, so long as the Government
+continue to make the enormous profit they at present do from its sale,
+after it has been made by them into cheroots, or brought to Manilla
+and sold in the leaf for export. In Bisayas the quality of the leaf
+is so inferior in strength and appearance to that produced in Luzon,
+that the Government have not thought it worth while to appropriate
+the produce of the islands to themselves by a monopoly.
+
+There are several extensive manufactories of cigars carried on by
+the Government at and near Manilla, the most extensive being in the
+capital, although those at Malabone and Cavite also employ a great
+number of people in rolling them up.
+
+In making cheroots women only are employed, the number of those so
+engaged in the factory at Manilla being generally about 4000. Besides
+these, a large body of men are employed at another place in the
+composition of cigarillos, or small cigars, kept together by
+an envelope of white paper in place of tobacco; these being the
+description most smoked by the Indians.
+
+The flavour of Manilla cheroots is peculiar to themselves, being quite
+different from that made of any other sort of tobacco; the greatest
+characteristic probably being its slightly soporific tendency, which
+has caused many persons, in the habit of using it, to imagine that
+opium is employed in the preparatory treatment of the tobacco, which,
+however, is not the case.
+
+The cigars are made up by the hands of women in large rooms of the
+factory, each of them containing from 800 to 1000 souls. These are all
+seated, or squatted, Indian-like, on their haunches, upon the floor,
+round tables, at each of which there is an old woman presiding to keep
+the young ones in order, about a dozen of them being the complement of
+a table. All of them are supplied with a certain weight of tobacco,
+of the first, second, or third qualities used in composing a cigar,
+and are obliged to account for a proportionate number of cheroots,
+the weight and size of which are by these means kept equal.
+
+As they use stones for beating out the leaf on the wooden tables,
+before which they are seated, the noise produced by them while making
+them up is deafening, and generally sufficient to make no one desirous
+of protracting a visit to the place. The workers are well recompensed
+by the Government, as very many of them earn from six to ten dollars
+a month for their labour, and as that amount is amply sufficient to
+provide them with all their comforts, and to leave a large balance for
+their expenses in dress, &c., they are seldom very constant labourers,
+and never enter the factory on Sundays, or, at least, on as great an
+annual number of feast-days as there are Sundays in a year.
+
+During the years of 1848 and 49, the Government were not in the habit
+of selling leaf-tobacco for export, but they have again resumed the
+practice of 1847, which, however, is likely to be stopped soon again;
+how soon, it is impossible to say--probably just when the caprice of
+the director of tobacco inclines him, as he is an influential person,
+generally, in his own department.
+
+The denominations of cheroots were changed in January, 1848; when the
+description formerly known as Thirds was and still is called Seconds,
+and the manufacture of a new sort known as Firsts was begun.
+
+The weights of new cigars when sent out of the factory are as
+follow:--Firsts 1500, Seconds 3000, Thirds 4000 to the arroba; the
+weight of the arroba when issued by Government from the factory being
+actually 1 pound 9 ounces over the current weight,--this allowance
+being made to meet the loss of weight which cigars always experience
+during a long sea-voyage, which, although it diminishes their bulk,
+is said materially to improve their flavour. All cigars for the use
+of the country-people are made in the Havana shape, and are prohibited
+being exported, probably from their desire to keep the name of Manilla
+cheroots up to its proper status, as the Havana-shaped cigars are
+seldom equal in flavour to those made for exportation.
+
+A large quantity of the Havana-shaped are made and used in the
+country by smugglers, who sell them at one-half the price charged by
+the Government, and some of these are occasionally sent from Manilla
+by stealth. But they are seldom so good as those of the Government
+make, although that occasionally deteriorates to an alarming degree,
+so that every now and then very bad cheroots are exported. Of course,
+when they are smoked and disliked no one uses them, and they become
+unsaleable, so that when Government finds that there are few or no
+purchasers, and that their stock is accumulating, they are obliged to
+use a better class tobacco in their manufacture, upon which people
+begin to buy from them again. However, this uncertainty as to their
+_at all times_ producing good cigars, has a most detrimental effect
+upon themselves, and this alone prevents their consumption from being
+very much greater than it now is, if one uniformly good quality of
+tobacco were always used and the bad descriptions sold.
+
+The rates at which Government sell cigars are fixed, being 14 dollars
+per 1000 for Firsts, 8 dollars for Seconds, and 6 3/4 dollars for
+Thirds; although, if the purchasers will take off more than the
+stocks existing in their warehouses, the prices may be regulated by
+the eagerness of the buyers, from the cigars being sold at public
+auction, which, however, very seldom happens. Purchasers have no
+power to secure the good quality of the cigars they buy, as on an
+application being made to the director of the renta for a quantity,
+he merely fills up a printed order for their delivery, and after the
+money has been paid for them, but not till then, they are delivered
+by the warehouse-keepers at random, as it is not allowed to select for
+delivery any of the cigars under their charge, which are consequently
+never seen by the purchaser until after the completion of the bargain,
+when if the quality is bad he has no remedy for it, as they will not be
+received back again by the Government or the money for them returned.
+
+_Indigo._--The quantity produced is very small; that exported to the
+United States being the bulk of the crop, although large quantities
+of liquid indigo are also annually sent to China in casks; but I have
+not been able to ascertain its amount with any degree of precision. It
+is of an inferior quality to the solid dye, and sells for considerably
+less money.
+
+The dye coming from the provinces of Laguna and Pangasinan is generally
+of superior quality to that produced in Ylocos and elsewhere, their
+relative prices being about forty-five dollars per quintal for the
+first two descriptions, and twenty-eight dollars for the other sorts
+of first, second, and third qualities in proportions.
+
+The cultivation of the plant is very precarious, as it is liable
+to damage from a variety of causes; it will die if too much water
+collects round it, or if too little is given to it. It generally
+is grown on a dry soil, having a slight decline, to carry off the
+rain. To extract the dye from the plant, the usual process is to
+place it in large vessels containing lime and water, and then to
+bruise it with a wooden pestle; after which, when the water becomes
+still, the colouring matter will sink to the bottom of the vessel,
+when the water and the plants are drained off, and the matter, which
+by that time has acquired the consistency of paste, is exposed to the
+air to dry upon mats: as it becomes more dry it is divided by lines
+into small quadrangular pieces, and is broken up.
+
+To secure a good quality of indigo, great attention must be paid to
+the clearness of the water, and the proper mixture and quantity of
+the lime, as too much or too little is equally pernicious; also the
+time during which the bruising takes place, which, it appears, is a
+matter of very nice judgment, as it is usual to explain or account
+for the cause of the bad quality of a lot by saying that the planter
+has beat it for too long or too short a time, and that he did not
+know exactly when to stop.
+
+This article is very liable to adulteration, at which both native and
+Chinese dealers are so peculiarly expert, that purchasers trusting
+solely to their own knowledge are very liable to be deceived by them.
+
+The blues of the country are much brighter than any of the British or
+continental dyes, and are in consequence much preferred by the natives.
+
+_Cotton_.--Cotton is only grown in a very small quantity, principally
+in Ylocos and Batangas provinces. Some of it is sent to China, but
+the major part of the crop is used in the country. It is seldom or
+never well cleaned, the rude machines employed for doing so being
+usually worked by the hand or foot, very imperfectly and slowly,
+cleaning only a small quantity of the wool in a day.
+
+_Cocoa-nut oil_.--Cocoa-nut oil is made in the province of Laguna
+and in Bisayas. That coming from the Laguna is of the best quality,
+and generally sells for a good deal more than the Bisayas oil,
+which does not give so good a light, and has a worse smell than the
+other. The manufacturing processes employed in producing it are very
+rude in both of these districts, although that followed in Laguna
+is the better of the two; but both are bad. It has been proposed,
+however, to remedy this by establishing proper machinery at Manilla
+for carrying on its production on a large scale, as is done in Ceylon.
+
+The chief difficulty of exporting the article appears to be the want
+of knowledge of the proper means of seasoning the tanks in which
+it is shipped. These have not as yet been well made at Manilla; and
+some merchants have been in the habit of getting their empty tanks
+from Batavia, as they are usually better made there than they are
+procurable in Manilla. The best mode of seasoning them appears to be,
+to fill them all with oil, and to place them in the sun, after being
+well coopered, above a large vat or other receptacle to catch all the
+oil which may leak out of them; and after they have stood for some
+time in this way, the pores of the wood get filled up by the oil,
+which prevents further leakage.
+
+When filled with water, as has been the practice for some time past
+at Manilla, on the oil being shipped, the effect, as has been found,
+is to increase its leakage over what the casks lose when they have not
+been filled with water, but left altogether alone, as water expands the
+wood, while oil causes it to shrink. By attention to the preparation of
+the casks at Colombo in Ceylon in this manner, they are able to send
+home oil in old beer casks, &c., which, of course, enables them to
+avoid a great deal of unnecessary expense. Perhaps a small quantity
+of boiling hot oil poured into a cask, which should then be rolled
+about so that the oil might wet every part of it, would cause it to
+shrink more speedily than by exposing it to the sun for about six
+weeks. I am not aware, however, of this having ever been tried.
+
+Cocoa is grown among plaintain-trees, which afford it some shade,
+and protect it from the excessive slow heat, which kills it.
+
+Although the growth of cocoa is at present very small, did any one take
+the trouble to bestow the necessary care and attention it demands, the
+crop might be very greatly augmented. The best is now grown in Cebu,
+although, from Samar, Misamis, and Batangas, the Manilla market is
+also supplied, but it is only saleable at about twenty-three dollars
+per pecul, while the Cebu grown fetches about twenty-seven dollars
+per pecul.
+
+Very little is exported, and the chocolate made in Manilla is nearly
+all consumed there. Supplies occasionally come from Guayaquil of a
+quality very similar to that of Cebu.
+
+All the efforts hitherto made to send cocoa to Spain, without
+its deteriorating in quality, by getting spotted, &c., have been
+unsuccessful.
+
+_Coffee._--Although there have been efforts made at various times to
+promote this valuable branch of agricultural industry, by holding out
+to the natives rewards in money for a certain number of plants in a
+state of bearing, it has not as yet had the effect of greatly promoting
+its growth. Tayabas and Laguna are provinces from which most of it
+comes to Manilla, but this it does by very small lots at a time, and
+generally uncleaned, which the provincial traders have to do here. The
+quality of most of that grown at these places is fully equal to that
+of Java, from which, however, it differs a good deal in flavour. The
+French, who take off the bulk of the crop, are fonder of its peculiar
+taste than most other people, and prefer it to other descriptions.
+
+Pepper is grown to a very limited extent in Tayabas, and is all
+consumed in the country, although in former years some has been
+exported from that province.
+
+Opium could be grown in the greatest perfection in several places
+of the Philippines, where the white poppy abounds in the utmost
+luxuriance; but Government do not choose to permit its growth and
+manufacture, except in the immediate vicinity of Manilla, although I
+believe there is a permission to do so there, where, however, there
+is no soil suitable for the growth of the plant. There are many
+places, also, which would subject the planters of it to the nearly
+unlimited control of the police, whose interference alone would be
+so vexatious and unpleasant as to deter any one from attempting its
+growth, even did the stringent regulations laid down with reference
+to it not do so; such as exactly counting the number of plants, and
+being forced to deposit all the drug in the custom-house for export,
+for the permission to do which twenty-five per cent. would have to be
+paid to the Government. These regulations are a virtual prohibition
+to engage in its cultivation, as no prudent man is at all likely to
+embark his capital in such an enterprise while they exist.
+
+In consequence of the heavy duty imposed upon opium, to discourage its
+importation, the greater portion of the drug consumed in the country
+is smuggled into it by the masters of the Spanish trading-vessels
+from China or Singapore.
+
+Government farm out the privilege of supplying the market with opium
+to the highest bidder, who seldom, however, imports many chests for
+its consumption; but what he does sell is usually at a very large
+advance on the prices paid for it in another market.
+
+How much better were it for the Government to attempt to regulate the
+trade of this article instead of doing all in their power to suppress
+it, in which they can never be successful, so long as Chinamen and
+their descendants remain with the tastes that now belong to them. Can
+there be any prohibition against the introduction of opium more strong
+than that of the Chinese Government? and are there any more useless,
+or any laws more openly evaded? It is impossible to extirpate the
+taste, but it would be easy to regulate and in some degree control it;
+and these are the proper and legitimate aims of a Government.
+
+Under proper management and increased facilities for the planter to
+rear opium, the Philippines, merely from their situation, would rule
+the China market for the drug, which would employ multitudes of people
+in its growth and manufacture, and be a source of immense wealth to
+the country.
+
+Some one will object that it is an immoral trade, which caters to
+the worst passions of the nature of the Chinese. Let it be proved so;
+let us see something more than mere prejudice; let it be shown to be
+worse than the conduct of the farmer, at home, who raises and sells
+barley to make whiskey; or of the distiller, who makes it; or of
+the West Indian, who produces rum from his estate, as both of these
+stimulants increase the evil passions in men while swayed by them,
+to a much greater extent than opium.
+
+Smoking tobacco does no good to the person who practises it; it is
+a vice, although those addicted to it may call it one of the lesser
+sins. But would it be just or wise to prohibit the growth of tobacco,
+because smoking it may not be a virtue?
+
+To attempt stopping the use of opium is no wiser, and just as futile,
+in China, as King Jamie's foolish decrees against tobacco proved to
+be in Britain.
+
+Wheat is grown in the provinces of Ylocos, Tayabas, and the Laguna,
+but is seldom or never more than enough to supply the wants of the
+European population, none of it being exported; and the import of
+foreign wheat is prohibited, although it is frequently conceded to
+the bakers, on their memorialising the Governor, and showing that
+the prices at the time of their doing so are excessively high.
+
+Although sulphur can scarcely be ranked in the same category with the
+preceding articles of commerce, I set it down here, as a considerable
+quantity is annually shipped to China. It is brought from the vicinity
+of the volcanoes in Bisayas: the best is said to come from Leyte,
+which is worth about one and a quarter dollar per pecul. Residents
+at Manilla usually immerse a large block, weighing about two peculs,
+in the wells from which their drinking water is taken, just as the
+rainy season commences, and it is found to have a most salutary effect
+upon the water impregnated with it, causing less liability to those
+who drink it, to suffer dysentery from its use.
+
+Cowries, the shells of a small snail, are found on the shores
+of several islands, and are shipped as an article of commerce to
+Singapore, &c., where they are, I believe, purchased by the Siam
+and Calcutta traders, as they serve for money in several of the
+countries of Asia. Those found on Sibuyan island, in Capiz province,
+are considered the best, being the smallest and stoutest. They are
+sold by the cavan, weighing nearly a pecul, if of good quality,
+at about two dollars per cavan.
+
+Pitch, or tar, is brought from Tayabas to Manilla, in boxes or baskets,
+and is employed, I believe, principally by the shipwrights there,
+in the prosecution of their business. Some of the natives also use
+it for making torches, it being cheaper than oil.
+
+Betel-nut, or areca, is, as is well known, used nearly all over
+Asia, all the natives of which are excessively fond of the taste
+the mastication of it produces in their mouths. The prepared leaf is
+called a _buyo_ in the Philippines, when it is spread over with lime,
+and a morsel of betel-nut enclosed in it. Immense quantities of it are
+consumed in the islands and in China, and in former times, I believe,
+it formed a branch of the excise revenue.
+
+_Hides._--The quantity of buffalo hides shipped to China and Europe
+is considerable. Those exported to China are sometimes shipped without
+being salted, although it is necessary that all those sent on so long
+a voyage as it is to Europe should undergo that process. Buffalo hide
+cuttings are generally prepared for shipment by being immersed in
+lime-water, from which they are withdrawn perfectly white and coated
+with lime.
+
+Buffalo hides weigh about 21 lbs. a-piece, and cow, only about the
+half of that. Deer hides are also sometimes, though rarely, cured
+and exported.
+
+The beef of the buffalo, cow, and deer, is cured for the China
+market, by being salted and allowed to dry in the sun: it is then
+called _sapa_.
+
+Tamarinds, which are called sampaloc by the natives, are seldom
+exported for sale.
+
+The woods of the country are various and valuable; but, perhaps,
+the best known for its useful properties, is the Sapan dye-wood,
+called sibocao. It comes from various provinces; but principally from
+Yloylo and Pangasinan.
+
+Good wood is stout, straight, well-coloured, and with no appearance
+or trace of water having been used to heighten it, which may be
+easily detected on a careful inspection, although the unwary have on
+several occasions been known to have purchased, and shipped home to
+Britain, quantities of the common firewood in place of it, as after
+being wetted, it acquires the colour of Sapan-wood, sufficiently to
+deceive an ignorant or careless purchaser.
+
+Nearly all of the straight wood is sent to Europe, and the roots to
+China and Calcutta, where they are said to be quite as well liked
+as straight wood, and beyond a doubt they produce more dye than
+the latter.
+
+The mountains of the Philippines are clothed with numberless varieties
+of woods of almost every description of Oriental timber; but the
+markets of Europe being so distant, and the cost of freight to them so
+enormous, very few are sent there, except, perhaps, ebony and molave,
+although several beautiful descriptions of wood are employed by the
+cabinet-makers of the country and those of China, some of which are
+of superior beauty to anything I have ever seen at home when made up
+into furniture.
+
+The ebony principally comes from Cagayan and Camarines, the wood from
+which is perfectly dark, and as good as any I know of. The Cagayan
+wood is very beautiful, being marked by broad black and white, or
+black and yellow stripes; it takes a polish very well, and forms a
+peculiarly fine timber for the cabinet-makers to exercise their skill
+upon, its rays producing magnificent tables, &c.
+
+Molave is a wood of great solidity, and of incredibly lasting
+properties; and it resists, better than all others, exposure to
+the weather. It is said to become petrified when immersed for some
+time in water, and in fact it appears to be nearly as lasting and
+incorruptible as stone itself. It is employed for nearly all purposes,
+and large quantities of it are shipped to China.
+
+Narra is a common description of red wood, somewhat resembling
+mahogany, which occasions it to be largely used in cabinet-making. From
+the lower parts of this tree I have seen a table exceeding two yards
+square, cut out, in one piece.
+
+Tindal wood resembles narra, but has a higher colour than the latter,
+which, however, gets sobered, and becomes darker by age.
+
+Alintatas is of a beautiful yellow colour.
+
+Malatapay is also yellow, or rather coffee-coloured, and is well
+veined for ornament.
+
+Lanete is a white wood, and is made use of for a variety of purposes.
+
+All the preceding woods are capable of being made into furniture of a
+very handsome and valuable description, and were they better known in
+Europe, would be largely employed for that purpose, as people would
+be willing to purchase them for their beauty, even at the high prices
+which the distance and expense of transit would occasion.
+
+Among the common useful woods for ship-building and other purposes,
+may be mentioned the banaba and mangachapuy: the latter does not
+stand water well, however.
+
+Yacal, for beams and joists of houses, &c., and a tall, straight
+wood, called _Palo Maria_, is valuable for supplying spars, &c.,
+to the shipping of the colony.
+
+Baticulin, for cutting up into boards or deals.
+
+Dungo unites strength and solidity to an immense size.
+
+Teak is found in Zamboanga, and its value is too well known to require
+any remark upon it.
+
+Ypil is brought to Manilla from Yloylo, and being a very lasting and
+hard timber, is of the greatest value, and is applied to a variety
+of uses.
+
+These are some of the many species of woods abounding in the country,
+whose number and value are yearly increasing as they become better
+known to the foreign timber merchants of China and elsewhere. The
+China market alone would take off greatly increased supplies, were
+they allowed to ship the timber from the ports next to where the
+woodman's axe had felled the tree, in place of forcing it to bear
+all the heavy charges which its transport to Manilla in the first
+instance now subjects it to.
+
+The investigations of Don Rafael Arenao have been of great service
+to me in forming a list of these; and for several other particulars
+scattered throughout the preceding pages I have to thank him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+The money current in the Philippines consists of Spanish and South
+American dollar pieces principally, although no two of them have
+precisely the same weight in silver. Thus the Chilian dollar of 1833
+had 456·24 grains of pure metal, while that of the Rio de la Plata
+has only 441·24 grains of silver.
+
+Nearly all the Mexican dollars differ in their quantity of pure silver;
+for example, that of the coinage of 1832 had only 442·80, while that
+of 1833 had 451·20 grains of pure metal. The old Spanish dollar has
+445·08 grains of pure silver, and the half dollar 222·48 grains;
+while the Bolivian half dollar has only 168·60 grains of pure silver;
+and the Bolivian quarter-dollar piece has only 84·84 grains of pure
+silver; while the standard Spanish quarter-piece contains 111·24
+grains of unalloyed silver.
+
+The golden doubloon, weighing an ounce, is worth sixteen dollars in
+Manilla, although it usually sells for considerably less in China.
+
+Both of these coins are subdivided into halves and quarter-pieces,
+and the dollar is divided into eight reals, one of which is
+equal to two and a half reals of the vellon money current in the
+Peninsula; and the Manilla real is represented by a copper currency
+of seventeen cuartos. In calculations, however, the real is divided
+into twelve parts by an imaginary coin called grains; so that by
+$3. 2. 6. would be understood three dollars, two reals, and a half
+real, or three dollars and five-sixteenth parts of a dollar.
+
+The copper money in circulation is so scanty, as to be perfectly
+inadequate for the purpose; and at the time of my leaving Manilla,
+the usual charge for exchanging a dollar for copper money was a
+quartillo, or the quarter of a real, worth about a penny halfpenny
+of English money.
+
+In consequence of this scarcity, the natives are in the habit of
+employing cigars as money, to represent the smaller coins; and all
+over the Philippines a cigar is actually the most important circulating
+medium, each representing a cuarto.
+
+At various times the scarcity of copper coins has given rise to
+extensive forgeries of them, and caused a considerable depreciation
+in their actual value, the false coinage being all of spurious metal.
+
+The gold which is found at Pictas, in Misamis, and at Mambalao,
+Paracala, and Surigao, is consumed in the country in ornaments, &c.,
+and some of it is sent also to China. The amount annually produced
+at these places is very uncertain; and the quantity exported to China
+is probably a good deal more than the amount set down in the tabular
+statement, it being a thing of so very easy export, that I should
+suppose at least an equal number of taels are sent there privately,
+to what appears in the table to have passed the Custom-house.
+
+Its value in Manilla varies, according to quality, at from twenty
+dollars a tael down to fourteen for the inferior sorts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+After travelling so far together, the reader will permit me to direct
+his attention to the geographical position and natural advantages of
+the Philippines, which are unequalled by any other islands in the whole
+eastern Archipelago. Their vicinity to the immensely populous empire
+of China is in itself enough to render them a most flourishing colony.
+
+The Spanish and local governments are alive to the importance of this,
+and appear desirous to encourage trade to a limited extent, but are
+apparently anxious to hold the reins of it, and to regulate it as they
+deem best for themselves, or at any time to put a stop to it entirely.
+
+The evils arising from the changeable elements given birth to by
+their interference it is difficult to over-estimate, as from the
+ignorance, which prevails through all classes, of the first elements
+of a commonwealth, and from their capricious notions of government, and
+want of knowledge of the advantages of liberality and of the facilities
+given to the prosecution of commerce, few persons of prudence care
+to expose their capital very extensively to the chances of trade.
+
+At present the Philippines want some infusion of foreign capital
+and energy into the veins and local arteries of the country, which,
+backed by the enlightened application of science, would cause these
+islands to emerge from the obscurity now surrounding them, and force
+them to assume the important position for which nature has apparently
+destined them.
+
+This will not come to pass until the present opinions of the Government
+and people are considerably changed with reference to their commercial
+legislation, or until all government interference in affairs of that
+nature is left off, so far as the interests of the revenue will permit,
+when the people will be insensibly but wisely taught by experience
+to rely upon themselves alone.
+
+The principles of commerce, and the wealth of nations, as laid
+down by Adam Smith in his great work, which is almost deserving of
+immortality for the truths it tells mankind, are as true and as sure
+in practice as they are in theory; and should the wisdom and truth
+of his investigations ever be applied to the commercial regulations
+of these islands, it is difficult to foretell the destiny that may
+ultimately await them.
+
+It appears to me to be as unwise to attempt to restrain the course of
+nature and its fruits, aided by the energies of man to develop or to
+use them, as it would be to bind down the mind of a man of genius,
+or of a poet, in order to prevent their operation, or to hinder the
+great conceptions of their muse, or the scientific research which a
+bright genius renders serviceable to his fellow mortals, from ever
+seeing the light. No one will defend the justice or wisdom of the
+time which forbade Galileo to publish, or even himself to believe in,
+his great discoveries; but is that more unjust than the policy of
+rulers, who shut up from the beings whom God has created to use them,
+the fruits of our common mother, the earth?
+
+It is equally absurd to prevent and to prohibit in either case;
+but notwithstanding this, the passions and prejudices of mankind are
+violent enough to permit of the one, although they would by no means
+suffer the other. Wisdom and passion can seldom or never accompany
+each other.
+
+Philanthropy will ultimately banish from our codes all such regulations
+as tend to check the fruitfulness of the soil and its use by man,
+who has been endowed with reason in order that he may assist the
+operations of nature. The constant and unrestricted use of the bounties
+of nature does not lead to their abuse; the contrary is the fact,
+for it is only when our appetites are excited by the obstacles to
+their attainment that they become excessively indulged and depraved.
+
+The illiberality of the Government places the existing position of
+foreigners in rather an equivocal position, for they are only there
+upon sufferance; and in the event of any disturbance, such as happened
+at Manilla in 1820, or of a war between the two nations, what would
+become of the foreigners or of their property?
+
+It has already been shown to the world that our fellow-subjects at
+Manilla in 1820, might be murdered in the streets like dogs, and no
+retribution be demanded by their Government; and to this day their
+personal liberty and property can at any time be endangered by the
+caprice of the Governor or of his subordinates.
+
+In 1848, an alcalde laid hold of a number of British subjects,
+and threw them suddenly into prison, because he happened one day to
+discover that the time for their permission to remain in the country
+had years ago expired, which all of them had been led to expect it was
+quite unnecessary to have renewed so long as they remained quiet and
+well-conducted members of the community. As the alcalde did not know
+very well what to do with them when he had got them into the jail,
+he kept them there for a few days till he had smoked a good deal,
+and thought a little about them, and then he told the jailor to let
+them out again.
+
+Our trade with China would be materially improved by the attention
+of Her Majesty's Foreign Secretary being directed to the position
+of the Philippines in connection with our own interests with them,
+and with the great empire adjoining them. Besides, it is a shame to
+ourselves that such things should exist in the colony, not only of
+a friendly European power, but of one so much indebted, as Spain is,
+to the valour of our arms for her independence, and to our liberality
+for possessing this colony at all.
+
+
+
+                            THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                  PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SON,
+ London Gazette Office, St. Martin's Lane; and Orchard Street,
+                          Westminster.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Recollections of Manilla and the
+Philippines, by Robert Mac Micking
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines, by 
+Robert Mac Micking
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines
+       During 1848, 1849 and 1850
+
+Author: Robert Mac Micking
+
+Release Date: December 26, 2006 [EBook #20189]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS OF MANILLA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Clare Boothby, Jeroen Hellingman and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="front"><div class="titlePage">
+<h1 class="docTitle">RECOLLECTIONS
+<br>
+OF
+<br>
+MANILLA AND THE PHILIPPINES,
+</h1>
+<h1 class="docTitle">DURING 1848, 1849, AND 1850.</h1>
+<h2 class="byline">BY
+<br>
+<span class="docAuthor">ROBERT MAC MICKING, ESQ.</span>
+
+
+
+</h2>
+<h2 class="docImprint">LONDON:<br>
+RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,<br>
+Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
+<br>
+1851.
+</h2>
+</div><a id="d0e105"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e105">iii</a>]</span><div class="div1">
+<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2>
+<p>The Philippines, in many respects situated most advantageously for trade, having long been governed by a people whose notions
+of government and political economy have never produced the happiest results in any of their once numerous and important colonies,
+appear at last to be slowly reaping the benefit of the new commercial maxims now in course of operation, in Spain, and show
+symptoms of progressing with increased speed in the march of civilization, encouraged by commerce. As such a state is always
+interesting, more especially to my countrymen, whose commercial and manufacturing welfare is closely <a id="d0e111"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: bonud">bound</span> up with the rate at which <a id="d0e114"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e114">iv</a>]</span>civilization advances in every part of the world, I have attempted to give some idea of the actual state and prospects of
+this valuable colony, as they appeared to me during a residence there of the three years 1848&#8211;9&#8211;50, with the double object
+of directing more attention to these islands than has hitherto been paid to them by our merchants and manufacturers, and of
+deriving some employment in doing so, during a tedious voyage from Singapore to Hongkong, when, being in a great measure debarred
+from personal activity, an interesting occupation was felt to be more than usually necessary to engage the mind.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are many imperfections in the execution of my task; but for these the critical reader is requested to make some allowance,
+and entreated not to forget the inconveniences all landsmen are subjected to at sea.
+
+</p>
+<p class="alignright"><i>September, 1851.</i>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+</div><a id="d0e122"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e122">1</a>]</span><div class="body">
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER I.</h2>
+<p>About the time the Spanish arms under Hernan Cortez, Pizarro, and Almagro, were meeting with their most splendid successes
+in America, the thought occurred to Hernando Magallanes, a Portuguese gentleman in the service of King Charles the Fifth of
+Spain, that if by sailing south he could pass the new Western World, it would be possible to reach the famous Spice Islands
+of the East, which he supposed to contain untold-of wealth in their bosoms. This vast, and, in the state of their knowledge
+at the <a id="d0e130"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e130">2</a>]</span>time, apparently hardy and even rash idea, met with approval by the King, who honoured Magallanes with the distinguished military
+order of Santiago, and appointed him to the command of a squadron which he immediately set about fitting out to accomplish
+the project, with the view of conquering and annexing these islands to his crown.
+
+</p>
+<p>At length, when all the preparations were completed, on the 10th of August, 1519, six ships, no one of which exceeded 130
+tons, and some of them being less than half that size, sailed from the port of San Lucan de Barrameda on this bold and perilous
+enterprise.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the prosecution of their voyage, many obstacles were encountered; but everything disappeared before the ardour of their
+chief, who, discovering, passed through the Straits of Magellan, which alone immortalize his name, and spreading his sails
+to the gale, stood boldly with his squadron, now reduced to three crazy vessels, into the unknown and vast ocean which lay
+open before him, with all the hardihood characteristic of his time, traversing in its utmost breadth the Pacific, without,
+however, chancing to meet with any of the numerous islands now scattered throughout its <a id="d0e136"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e136">3</a>]</span>extent. At last, the Mariana or Ladrone Islands were descried on the 16th of August, 1521, and a few days afterwards a cape
+on the east coast of Mindanao was seen.
+
+</p>
+<p>Coasting along the shores of Caraga, the ships anchored off Limasna, where Magallanes was well received by the natives of
+the place; from thence steering towards Cebu, he managed to establish a good understanding with the country people, although
+upwards of two thousand of them had assembled, armed with spears and javelins, to oppose his landing.
+
+</p>
+<p>Having constructed a house at this place, in order that mass might be decently said, he landed to hear it, accompanied by
+his crews.
+
+</p>
+<p>The royal family of Cebu, curious to observe the manners of their strange visitors, attended its celebration, and, as the
+story goes, were so much edified by the sight, that they were baptized Christians, and an oath of allegiance and vassalage
+to the King of Spain administered to them; and their example being followed to a great extent by the nobles and people of
+Cebu, the Christian forms of faith and the symbolic cross were planted by the Spaniards in the country of the antipodes.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some time afterwards, Magallanes met the end <a id="d0e146"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e146">4</a>]</span>which best becomes a brave and good soldier, by dying in the battle-field in the cause of his new friends and allies.
+
+</p>
+<p>But without his master-mind to direct them, things no longer went on so smoothly between the Spaniards and the natives; and
+under his successor, the hostile feelings then given birth to, soon found a tragical vent, which resulted in a number of the
+white men being cruelly massacred by their Indian hosts, and in the flight of their companions, who, fearful of their own
+safety, made all sail on their ships, and bore away, leaving their unfortunate countrymen to their fate, without attempting
+and even refusing to ransom such of them whose lives were spared, from having been less obnoxious to the Indians than the
+others. This fatal accident left the surviving crews so much weakened in numerical strength, that not having men enough left
+to work all the ships, the &#8220;Concepcion&#8221; was set fire to, and the survivors steered towards the Moluccas.
+
+</p>
+<p>It were tedious to follow them through all their adventures; suffice it to say, that Juan Sebastian de El Cano was the only
+captain who succeeded in taking his ship home again round the Cape of Good Hope. After many anxieties <a id="d0e152"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e152">5</a>]</span>and vicissitudes he entered the same port of San Lucar from which he had sailed about three years before; and as a memento
+of his skill and of his being the first navigator who had made the circuit of the world, the king granted him for an armorial
+bearing, a globe, with the legend, &#8220;Primus circumdedit me,&#8221; which he had thus so honourably <a id="d0e157"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: ganied">gained</span>.
+
+</p>
+<p>At intervals of about four years between each other, three separate expeditions were fitted out from Spain and America for
+these islands, which were named &#8221;<i>Las Felipi&ntilde;as</i>&#8221; by Villalobos, commander of the last of these squadrons, in honour of the then Prince of Asturias, afterwards better known
+as King Philip the Second of Spain.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the meantime the Portuguese, jealous of the vicinity of such powerful neighbours as the Spaniards, to their empire of the
+East which Vasco de Gama and Albuquerque had so brilliantly founded for their country, took advantage of the financial distress
+of the Spanish king, who was then arming against France and Germany, and for an inconsiderable amount purchased his right
+of conquest over all the Philippines.
+
+</p>
+<p>But they did not long retain them; for on Prince Philip of the Asturias becoming King <a id="d0e169"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e169">6</a>]</span>of Spain he regained the islands by breaking through the treaty which confirmed their sale. Having, in 1564, appointed Don
+Miguel Lopez de Legaspi commander of an expedition fitted out for the purpose of reacquiring them, and having made him Governor
+and Adelantado of all the countries he could conquer,&#8212;which now-a-days appears to be rather a vague commission, but was then
+a custom of that venturous time,&#8212;that dignitary reached the Philippines, which had been altogether neglected by the Portuguese,
+and without difficulty re-established Spanish supremacy over the group, of which he may be considered as the first governor.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their favorable reception by the natives rendered the acquisition altogether, or nearly, a bloodless one, for the warriors
+who gained them over to Spain were not their steel-clad chivalry, but the soldiers of the cross:&#8212;the priests, who, going out
+among a simple but somewhat passionate people, astonished and kindled them by their enthusiasm in the cause of Christ; while
+the novel doctrines they taught so enthusiastically, aided by the usual splendid accompaniments of that religion, captivated
+their senses, and took possession of their imaginations.
+<a id="d0e173"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e173">7</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Manilla was founded on the island of Luzon, the most important of all the islands in the group; and the situation of the new
+capital on the shore of a long bay, into which flow numerous rivers, bringing down from the interior of a fertile country
+through which they run, its varied and valuable produce, has secured for it prosperity and commercial importance. A trade
+with China sprang up, and its commencement was soon followed by many emigrants from that densely-peopled country, whose habits
+of industry and prudence very soon began to increase and develope the natural fertility of the soil, and whose numerous descendants
+have mingled with the native character some of those useful virtues which it seems scarcely probable they would possess but
+for this slight mixture of blood.
+
+</p>
+<p>Alas, that priestly ambition and the desire of domination should in time usurp the place of those laborious, enthusiastic,
+and pious missionaries who, so happily for the natives, had managed to revolutionize their minds, and so spared their country
+those scenes of blood which blot with a fearful stain the history of Spanish power in America. But the influence of churchmen,
+as usual, in the Philippines, was not always to be <a id="d0e178"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e178">8</a>]</span>well directed; for the merciless Inquisition having established itself at Manilla, commenced its terrible career. No one was
+safe, none were exempt from its powers; its emissaries penetrated even into the palace of the Governor. Moderation in religion,
+or remissness in its strictest observances, became crimes, punishable by the severest discipline of that fearful and cruel
+establishment. All attempts, even when aided or directed by the authority and influence of the highest officials, to lessen
+its power, proved unsuccessful; and frequently a <i>Bishop</i> was chosen to occupy the Governor-general&#8217;s place, to perform his civil and military duties! Everything was in the hands
+of the churchmen, the subsequent effects of which were demonstrated to the world by the easy success of the British expedition
+of 1762, which they permitted to enter the bay without opposition, having passed the fortified island of Corregidor at its
+entrance without a shot being fired to prevent them. And the same effects caused but a feeble resistance to be opposed to
+their arms, and the speedy surrender of Manilla by its priest-ridden and effeminate defenders.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e183"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e183">9</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER II.</h2>
+<p>The Government of Spain has, ever since the period of their acquisition, shown itself ignorant or neglectful of the commercial
+importance of these islands, the commerce of which has long been subjected to regulations and restrictions as injurious in
+their tendency as can well be imagined,&#8212;they being framed, apparently at least, more for the purpose of smothering it in its
+earliest existence than with any kindly or paternal views of nourishing and increasing it.
+
+</p>
+<p>But a change having at length once begun, a new era may be said to have commenced with regard to them, and it is to be hoped
+that increasing wisdom and liberality of ideas may clear away some of the remaining obstacles which for so <a id="d0e191"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e191">10</a>]</span>long encumbered, and even yet impede and circumscribe within a very narrow circle, the natural course of their commerce. For
+the Spanish Government are far from following a similar policy to that of the great Henry the Fourth of France, who, as an
+encouragement to the manufacturing industry of the country, rewarded those silk manufacturers who had carried on business
+for twelve years, with patents of nobility, as men who by doing so not only benefited themselves, but deserved well of their
+country for their enterprise and commercial spirit. Don Simon Anda was about the first person who showed any desire to augment
+the trade of the islands; and his election to the highest offices of the colony, after its restoration by the English, was
+a most fortunate event for Manilla. Although, unluckily, many of the steps he took with the best intentions, notwithstanding
+being infinitely in advance of those of his predecessors in office, were not always in the right direction, and consequently
+unattended by the highest degree of success which he aimed at, partial good results were obtained by them, and a beneficial
+change began to regulate affairs.
+
+</p>
+<p>The expulsion of the Jesuits from the Philippines <a id="d0e195"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e195">11</a>]</span>in 1768, by throwing their immense estates out of cultivation, and also the wars and disturbances subsequent to the French
+Revolution, being felt even in this remote part of the world, were attended with the worst effects to the trade and agriculture
+of the islands. On the peace of 1814, the condition of the country was truly deplorable, as, during a long period of isolation
+and inactivity, abuses had multiplied to an alarming extent, and the minds of the Indian population especially had become
+divided between superstition and sedition, from each of which a sanguinary catastrophe resulted. Public opinion at the time
+fastened on the priests the guilt of the massacre of the Protestant foreigners at Manilla in 1820, and the growing discontent
+of the people blew into open rebellion in 1823, under a Creole leader, who then rose and attempted to shake off the Spanish
+authority.
+
+</p>
+<p>To give the reader some idea of the commercial regulations then existing, which helped, no doubt, to bring about these disorders,
+it may be mentioned that among many other things, even after the port of Manilla was thrown open to ships of all nations,
+the vessels belonging to that port itself were not allowed to trade with Europe, or to <a id="d0e199"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e199">12</a>]</span>proceed beyond the Cape of Good Hope; and Government yet further limited their intercourse with the only ports of China and
+India which were open to them, by issuing passes to all colonial ships, the conditions of which were perfectly incompatible
+with the usual course of commerce, as they were required to return home directly from the port to which they were destined
+from Manilla, and were not at liberty to touch at, or have any intercourse with, other places than those specified in their
+passport.
+
+</p>
+<p>These absurd restrictions of course prevented a ship from profiting by any freight she might be offered at the port of her
+destination from Manilla, because the terms of her pass made it compulsory for her to return there before she could accept
+any new engagement such as might be offered her, and of course, in such a case, frequently forced them to decline most profitable
+business; consequently, the colonial shipowners found that they had to sail their vessels at a great disadvantage with all
+others who were free from such interference.
+
+</p>
+<p>Neither was the trade with Spain open to them, for the Trading Company numbered among their many other privileges, that of
+having the sole <a id="d0e205"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e205">13</a>]</span>right of placing ships on the berth for the Peninsula.
+
+</p>
+<p>This state of things actually remained in force till 1820, when a royal order confirmed a decree of the Cortes exempting from
+all duties whatever any products of the Philippines which might be imported into Spain during the ensuing ten years; and this
+step may be considered as the first evidence of a desire shown by that Government to give an impulse to their colonial agriculture
+or to the manufactures and commerce of these splendid islands.
+
+</p>
+<p>This good work, having once begun, was followed up by the enlightened and benevolent government of Don Pascual Enrile, who
+was Captain-General of the Philippines from 1831 to 1835, and whose entire administration has left behind it the happiest
+results for the people he governed.
+
+</p>
+<p>Commencing his reform of the laws relating to navigation by giving passes to ships, for the period of two years, without requiring
+them to declare to what place or places they were bound, or might touch at during their absence from the port to which they
+belonged, he had an opportunity of satisfying himself of the good results <a id="d0e213"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e213">14</a>]</span>ensuing from non-interference; and some time afterwards entirely loosed the fetters which burdened them, by giving colonial
+ships liberty to sail wherever they chose without restrictions as to time or place: and certainly, his doing so was an honour
+for the national flag, which then waved on every sea. These concessions proved alike wise and beneficent; and since the time
+of their being granted, the tonnage and commerce of Manilla has increased in an amazing degree, and still goes on prosperously
+augmenting Her Most Catholic Majesty&#8217;s treasury, besides improving the condition of the people and the agriculture of the
+country.
+
+</p>
+<p>But this was far from being the only wise act of Governor Enrile, for under his administration a boon of even greater importance
+was secured to the country and the people of the colony, by the opening of internal communications throughout the Philippines.
+He established a comprehensive system of roads, and organised posts throughout the islands. Although most of the roads are
+now kept in most wretched order, yet being nearly always passable by horses, they are found to be of the utmost importance
+to the well-being of the country, even as they now exist.
+<a id="d0e217"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e217">15</a>]</span></p>
+<p>But should a time come when more attention will be bestowed upon them than now is, and new ones judiciously constructed in
+districts where they have not yet been, the agriculture of the islands will improve to a great degree, and corresponding advantages
+will follow in its train to be reaped by the Government that is enlightened enough to undertake them, and which is sensible
+enough to know what is most for its true interests. May that day soon come, for it will be a happy one to the Philippines
+and all belonging to them.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e220"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e220">16</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER III.</h2>
+<p>On approaching Manilla from the bay in one of the bancas&#8212;or canoes having a cover as a protection against the sun&#8212;which generally
+go off to all ships after their anchor has been let go, and the port-captain&#8217;s boat has boarded the new arrival, the spires,
+towers of churches, and lofty red-tiled roofs of houses or convents are all that can be seen over the walls, so that the first
+impressions of a stranger are not in general very vivid or interesting.
+
+</p>
+<p>On reaching the m&uacute;rallon, your banca enters the waters of the Pasig river, prolonged by two piers into the bay, on the extreme
+point of one of which is situated a small fort garrisoned by a <a id="d0e228"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e228">17</a>]</span>company of soldiers, and on the other the lighthouse, a most insignificant and nearly useless building. Passing these, the
+boatmen pull up the river to the garrita, a small round house, where the banca is vis&eacute;d by the people of the gun-boats, at
+all times stationed there for that purpose, and should there be any packages or baggage in it, the port-captain&#8217;s deputy,
+or aide-de-camp, puts a guard on board, who conducts you to the custom-house for the purpose of having it inspected there;
+but the examination is generally not a very minute one, and personal effects are for the most part passed merely by opening
+the boxes and showing the tops of their contents, although you may be asked whether it contains either pocket-pistols or a
+bible, both of which are prohibited and seizable.
+
+</p>
+<p>The city of Manilla, ever since its foundation, which took place at a very early period of the Spanish power in Luzon, from
+the natural advantages combined in its situation&#8212;so judiciously chosen by them&#8212;continued to be the capital of the Philippines,
+whose history ever since may be said to have centered in the transactions which at various times have taken place under the
+shadow of its walls.
+<a id="d0e232"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e232">18</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It is built at the mouth of the river Pasig, on the low-lying and sandy point formed by its junctions with the waters of the
+bay, between which and the ditch that surrounds the walls on the seaward side, a level sward stretches along the beach.
+
+</p>
+<p>An Englishman, on arriving, perceives a marked difference between the place and people and any of his country&#8217;s Indian possessions;
+the air he breathes, and the habits he gradually falls into from seeing them the customary ones of other people, are not the
+same as those of his countrymen in British India. Should he be fortunate enough to have arrived towards the end of the year,
+in addition to the greater coolness of the weather then usually prevalent, and so delightful in the tropics, he will most
+probably not want opportunities for enjoying himself; as, after suffering a penitential confinement to the house during the
+long rainy season, for some time before Christmas, the cool nights and other circumstances induce the residents to break out
+into greater gaiety than is prevalent at other seasons of the year; and amusement, about that time, generally appears to be
+the order of the day.
+
+</p>
+<p>The city is not unworthy of a curiosity seeker&#8217;s <a id="d0e239"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e239">19</a>]</span>visit. The town, within the fortifications, although not of great size, is for the most part well planned, the streets being
+straight, regular, and some of them kept clean and in good order, although many of the smaller ones are allowed to fall into
+great disrepair. They are too narrow, moreover, for the heat of the climate, as the confined air and stench frequently existing
+in them, are principally generated by their closeness, and more especially during the cool of the evening and early morning,
+are far from conducing to the health of the population.
+
+</p>
+<p>The latitude of the citadel, or Fuerza de Santiago, is 14&deg; 36&#8242; N., longitude 127&deg; 15&#8242; E. of Cadiz, or in latitude 14&deg; 36&#8242;
+8&#8243; N., and longitude 120&deg; 53&frac12;&#8242; E. of Greenwich.
+
+</p>
+<p>The fortifications surrounding the town are regular, and apparently strong, defences; but although the walls and ditch look
+formidable enough in themselves, the want of sufficient good artillery to protect them would probably be felt in the event
+of an assault, and might render the place not a very difficult prize to a large attacking force. But no invader need now-a-days
+expect to meet with such very easy success as attended our expedition last century, at a time when weak and priestly notions
+not only ruled <a id="d0e245"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e245">20</a>]</span>the church, but governed the people and the camp.
+
+</p>
+<p>Very different feelings and modes of action are now prevalent among the white population, from those then in operation among
+them.
+
+</p>
+<p>For some years past the influx of fresh blood from Europe has been very much greater than in former times, the consequence
+of which is that a change is creeping over the place, from the energy and enterprize of the new comers.
+
+</p>
+<p>There is little doubt but that all this is for the best, and in the course of a few years more, I hope to hear that the Government,
+increasing in liberality and wisdom, will allow the natural capabilities of the Philippines to be developed, and their importance
+appreciated, by permitting foreigners to hold land and become planters, as without their capital and knowledge it will probably
+be a long time before the Spaniards of themselves attain these ends in the like perfection; such measures would ensure their
+doing so at once.
+
+</p>
+<p>By far the most populous and important part of the town of Manilla is situated without the walls, and on the other side of
+the river from the fortified city, the intermediate communication being by a handsome bridge, one of the eight <a id="d0e255"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e255">21</a>]</span>arches of which, having given way to the shock of an earthquake, has not been rebuilt, but is replaced by wood. It has been
+proposed to construct a drawbridge at this point, so as to allow the colonial shipping to proceed up the river above the bridge,
+which they cannot now do. And should the project be carried into effect, it is likely that the small sized coasting vessels,
+when nothing better offers for them to do, will go on to the Laguna, and supersede the clumsy <i>cascos</i> which now solely navigate the lake and bring down the produce of the fruitful country which surrounds it, to dispose of in
+the market of Manilla.
+
+</p>
+<p>Without the walls nearly all the trade is carried on, the Escolta and Rosario, on that side of the river, being the principal
+streets, built however without any regard to regularity, so that they are not handsome, but in them nearly all the best Chinamen&#8217;s
+shops are situated. These are in general very small confined places, though crammed with manufactures, the produce of Manchester,
+Glasgow, Birmingham, and of many other European and Chinese manufacturing marts. Some of the shops may also be seen stuffed
+to the door with the valuable Pi&ntilde;a <a id="d0e262"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e262">22</a>]</span>cloth, hus&egrave;, and other productions of the native looms.
+
+</p>
+<p>The great object of the Chinese shopmen appears to be, to show the most varied, and frequently miscellaneous, collection of
+goods in the smallest possible space; as, their shops being for the most part not more than ten feet broad towards the street,
+leaves but little space besides the doorway to display the attractions of their wares, and every inch has to be made the most
+of by them. These China shopkeepers have nearly driven all competition, except with each other out of the market,&#8212;very few
+Mestizos or Spaniards being able to live on the small profits which the competition among themselves has reduced them to.
+A China shopkeeper generally makes his shop his home, all of them sleeping in those confined dens at night, from which, on
+opening their doors about five in the morning, as they usually do, a most noisome and pestiferous smell issues and is diffused
+through the streets. The Mestizos cannot do this, but must have a house to live in out of the profits of the shop; and the
+consequence has been, that when their shopkeeping profits could no longer do that, they have nearly all betaken themselves
+to other <a id="d0e266"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e266">23</a>]</span>more suitable occupations, from which the energies of their Chinese rivals are less likely to drive them. The number of Chinamen
+in Manilla and throughout the islands is very great, and nearly the whole provincial trade in manufactured goods is in their
+hands. Numerous traders of that nation have shops opened throughout the islands, their business being carried on by one of
+their own countrymen, generally the principal person of the concern, who remains resident at Manilla, while his various agents
+in the country keep him advised of their wants, to meet which he makes large purchases from the merchants, and forwards the
+same to his country friends. Besides having many shops in the provinces, each of these head men is generally in the habit
+of having a number of shops in Manilla, sometimes upwards of a dozen being frequently all contiguous to one another, so that
+any one going into one of his shops and asking for something the price of which appears too dear, refuses it and goes to the
+next shop, which probably belongs to the same man, and is likely to buy it, as he is apt to think&#8212;because they all ask the
+same price&#8212;that it cannot be got cheaper elsewhere, so gives the amount demanded for it, although it is probably very much
+too dear.
+<a id="d0e268"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e268">24</a>]</span></p>
+<p>There is another advantage which the Chinese have found from the system they pursue,&#8212;that large purchasers of goods from the
+merchants who import them for sale are frequently able to buy them for less money than those smaller traders who are not in
+the habit of making purchases to the same amount from the importers,&#8212;as the credit of a small dealer is not sufficiently good
+to induce a merchant to sell them more than he imagines he is likely to be paid for.
+
+</p>
+<p>In these Chinese shops, the owner usually engages all the activity of his countrymen employed by him in them, by giving each
+of them a share in the profits of the concern, or, in fact, by making them all small partners in the business, of which he
+of course takes care to retain the lion&#8217;s share, so that while doing good for him by managing it well, they are also benefiting
+themselves. To such an extent is this principle carried, that it is usual to give even their coolies a share in the profits
+of the business in lieu of fixed wages, and the plan appears to suit their temper well; for although they are in general most
+complete eye-servants when working for a fixed wage, they are found to be most industrious and useful ones when interested
+even for the smallest share.
+<a id="d0e273"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e273">25</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The amount of business done by some of these Chinamen with the principal importers of manufactured goods, who are the British
+merchants, is very considerable, some of them frequently making monthly purchases to the extent of ten or fifteen thousand
+dollars from one person, nearly all of the goods being sold to them on credits of three, four, or six months after the date
+of purchase and delivery of the merchandise. Occasionally, however, some of them break down, and those importers who have
+been trusting them for large amounts, of course burn their fingers; Chinamen, as a general rule, being honest and trustworthy
+only so long as it appears to be their own interest to remain so. Most of them at Manilla are people who have made everything
+for themselves, from nothing except their hands to begin with, as no rich Chinamen, such as are met with in their native country,
+and occasionally in Java and Singapore, are found at Manilla; for nearly all those who come there have originally arrived
+as coolies, earning their bread by manual labour, but very few of them indeed having inherited anything from their fathers,
+except the arts of reading and writing, which nearly the whole of them, however poor, understand and <a id="d0e276"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e276">26</a>]</span>are able to perform. Whenever they make money, they invariably return to China, the Government holding out no inducements
+for them to remain in the Philippines, as they do elsewhere in the Archipelago, where greater freedom and protection are allowed
+them.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e278"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e278">27</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+<p>The streets of Manilla have at all times a dead and dull appearance, with the exception of the two already mentioned as being
+in the business part of the town. The basement-floor of the houses being generally uninhabited, there are no windows opened
+in their walls, which present a mass of whitewashed stone and lime, without an object to divert the eye, except here and there,
+where small shops have been opened in them, these being generally for selling rice, fruit, oil, &amp;c., and entirely deficient
+in the glare or glittering colours of gay merchandise, nearly all of which is confined to the shops of the Escolta, Rosario,
+and Santo Christo.
+
+</p>
+<p>The houses here, as elsewhere in hot climates, <a id="d0e286"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e286">28</a>]</span>are arranged with great regard to ventilation and coolness, and are mostly large edifices; but are seldom well laid out, and
+are deficient in many respects. The entire white population, which amounts to upwards of 5,000, resides either in the city,
+by which is meant that portion of it within the walls, or in the principal part of the town outside the walls, and on the
+other side of the river from the city within the walls; and in this district is comprehended the great bulk of the population,
+which amounts to upwards of 200,000 souls.
+
+</p>
+<p>Those resident within the walls are principally government servants, &amp;c., induced, by the proximity of the public offices,
+regimental cantonments, &amp;c., as well as a lower house-rent, to brave the greater heat usually felt there, from the confined
+space within the walls, and the narrow streets, not permitting so free a circulation of air as is enjoyed in the houses <i>extra muros</i>.
+
+</p>
+<p>The largest description of houses, being the residences of Europeans, are spacious, and in many cases built on one plan, most
+of them being quadrangles inclosing a court-yard within their squares. Here the stables, &amp;c., are usually situated; and, as
+may be supposed, the smell and view of them, should they happen to be in the least negligently <a id="d0e295"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e295">29</a>]</span>kept, as they frequently are, afford but very little gratification to persons whose windows happen to be near.
+
+</p>
+<p>The upper part of the house, or second story, as we would say in Scotland, is in general the only portion of the house inhabited
+by its residents. The rooms below, being considered unhealthy, are in general converted into warehouses or shops, if they
+can be let as such from happening to be conveniently situated, or serve as coach-houses, lumber-rooms, &amp;c. &amp;c. The masonry
+of the lower walls is usually very substantial and strong, being calculated to resist the shocks of earthquakes, which occasionally
+happen. Those of the upper stories, which rise from them, and form the habitable part of the house above, are much slighter
+than the lower ones, and the joists and wooden-work about the roof are adapted for security against such accidents, by their
+being fastened with bolts on either side of the masonry, thus enabling it to give a little play to the motion of the shock,
+without being displaced by it, and coming down, as thick and heavy walls would most certainly do.
+
+</p>
+<p>However, on the occurrence of an earthquake, it is usual to run down stairs, and have the protection <a id="d0e301"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e301">30</a>]</span>of the thick lower walls against any accident, such as that of the roof giving way. As the house I lived in while there may
+be taken as a specimen of many others, I shall describe it. After entering the gateway, the door of which is always very stout
+and heavy, and under the constant protection of a porter, for security&#8217;s sake, you reach a flight of steps leading to the
+habitable part of the house, and enter a gallery running from the top of the staircase, and a suite of rooms facing the street,
+to the gala or drawing-room at the other end of the house, and a suite of rooms facing the river. The entire length of the
+gallery is about a hundred feet, by twenty broad, and it looks into the open court-yard forming the centre of the building,
+on one side. There are several large and spacious bedrooms on the other side, the windows of which are lighted from a narrow
+street running to the river. Facing the gallery, and on the other side of the house, across the central court-yard, that entire
+side of the building is appropriated by the servants for cooking and sleeping-places.
+
+</p>
+<p>The beams supporting the upper or habitable floor extend four or five feet beyond the outer wall, towards the street, forming
+a sort of verandah, <a id="d0e305"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e305">31</a>]</span>or corridor, as it is called in Spanish as well as in English, round the entire building, affording a considerable protection
+against the sun&#8217;s rays. The outer side of this corridor is composed of coarse and dark-coloured mother-of-pearl shell of little
+value, set in a wooden framework of small squares, forming windows which move on slides. Although the light admitted through
+this sort of window is much inferior to what glass would give, it has the advantage of being strong, and is not very liable
+to be damaged by the severe weather to which it is occasionally exposed during some months of the year.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are few buildings distinguishable for architectural beauty, and those few are for the most part churches. The governor&#8217;s
+house, or the palace, is a large and spacious building within the walls, and forms one side of the Playa, the other three
+being formed by the cathedral, the Cabildo, and some private houses, whose irregular height detracts considerably from the
+appearance of the square. In the centre of the square stands a statue of I forget what King of Spain, well executed in bronze.
+
+</p>
+<p>It is usual for a military band to perform before the palace on Sunday and feast-day evenings, and <a id="d0e311"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e311">32</a>]</span>on these occasions many carriages go there from the drive, about eight o&#8217;clock, to enjoy the music, and give people a good
+opportunity for either gossip or love-making, as their tastes or the moonlight may incline them.
+
+</p>
+<p>The native Indians appear to have a good ear for music, and execute many of the finest operas with spirit and taste; and the
+amateur musicians in particular, who train the casino band, have brought the native performers to a very high degree of perfection
+in most of the pieces performed by them. A good deal more attention, however, appears to be paid to training these military
+bands, than in perfecting the troops themselves in their evolutions.
+
+</p>
+<p>Religious processions are as frequently passing through the streets, as they are in all the Roman Catholic countries of Europe,
+but the features of all are very nearly identical, and so need not be particularly described.
+
+</p>
+<p>When one of these processions takes place during the day, an awning is spread along the streets it will pass through, to protect
+the bareheaded promenaders from the sun, the canvass being attached to the house roofs along the streets; making them incredibly
+hot to pass along, so long as it remains there.
+<a id="d0e319"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e319">33</a>]</span></p>
+<p>A good deal of display in silver and gold ornaments may be seen in some of the churches, the collections of many successive
+years, as every incumbent shows his piety and zeal by adding something to them during the time he holds the cure.
+
+</p>
+<p>The jewels in some of the dresses of the figures, especially those of the Virgin, are valued at, or amount to, a considerable
+sum of money, and I have heard twenty thousand dollars mentioned as the value of those belonging to one church in Manilla.
+
+</p>
+<p>The houses of the Indian and Mestizo population are for the most part in the outskirts of the business part of the town, those
+of the richer sort being built of stone, and those of the poorest class being composed of <i>nipa</i>, or attap. Among houses of this sort, when a fire takes place, great and rapid destruction is inevitable, and the only way
+of saving any portion of them from its fury is by throwing down all those in the direction of its advance.
+
+</p>
+<p>Nearly every season, however, some fires happen among them, and hundreds of families are frequently burned out before its
+progress can be arrested. This, however, is not anything like so <a id="d0e331"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e331">34</a>]</span>calamitous an event for them as such an occurrence would be to the poor of Europe, for as the chief cost of a <i>nipa</i> house consists in the labour of erection, after such a misfortune, they are soon replaced by their own personal labour&#8212;for
+whatever their usual trade or occupation may be, nearly all of the Indians are quite capable of constructing these houses
+for themselves, and often manage to complete them roughly in a few days. No nails need be used in their construction, everything
+necessary being produced in the islands, and easily attainable. Houses so constructed are very suitable for the climate, affording
+all the shelter requisite; and indeed the people appear to be much better lodged than many of the poor in England, where the
+cold and damp of the climate demand a substantial house, which too often they do not possess.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e336"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e336">35</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER V.</h2>
+<p>The government of all the Philippine group, including the Mariana Islands, is intrusted to the charge of a Captain-General,
+who in virtue of his office is commander-in-chief of the forces, president of the Hacienda, admiral of marine, postmaster-general
+&amp;c., &amp;c. His power and authority, in short, extend to all those departments, over which his control, should he choose to exert
+it, is very absolute.
+
+</p>
+<p>The civil department of Her Most Catholic Majesty&#8217;s service, so far as finance, &amp;c., are concerned, is left to the administration
+of an officer who takes the title of Super-Intendente of the Hacienda; and who, putting the Archbishop aside, is regarded
+as the second official person at <a id="d0e344"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e344">36</a>]</span>Manilla, or as ranking next to the Governor, the revenue, &amp;c., being the branch he has principal charge of; but his acts are
+always subject to the control of the Captain-General.
+
+</p>
+<p>A military officer under the title of segundo Cabo, is under the Governor as acting commander-in-chief of the forces, and,
+in the event of the governor&#8217;s absence from Manilla, is the person who fills his situation and succeeds him in his power.
+A post-captain of the navy is usually the rank of the person intrusted with the direction and management of the sea force,
+but he always has, I believe, the local or brevet rank of an admiral.
+
+</p>
+<p>The internal administration of the country is carried on by officials subordinate to those above-mentioned, the whole of the
+islands being parcelled out or divided into several provinces, in each of which there is an Alcalde, or Lieutenant-Governor,
+receiving his orders from, and quite dependent on the Captain-General, to whose favour he generally owes his appointment.
+
+</p>
+<p>These officers are invested with the chief civil and military authority in their own provinces; but although they have always
+a small guard of soldiers, the good order and quiet generally <a id="d0e352"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e352">37</a>]</span>prevalent everywhere throughout the country render their military duties very unimportant, and their principal care is now
+required in the collection of revenue and the administration of justice within their several jurisdictions. These are not
+very arduous duties, owing principally to the efficient assistance derived from the authorities under them.
+
+</p>
+<p>Every province is divided into districts or parishes, in which there is some village or town, and in each of these places
+there is an official whom I shall call the Major, or <i>Capitan Gobernadorcillo</i>, and also some <i>Tenientes</i> or Aldermen, as well as police alguacils. All of these have to report to the alcalde of the province any thing of importance
+occuring within their districts, and are commanded severally to assist and promote the views of the cura, or priest, by every
+means in their power. Most of the people who fill these situations are Indians or Mestizos, rather better off in worldly goods
+than the run of their countrymen.
+
+</p>
+<p>These gobernadorcillos, or little governors, possess considerable authority over the natives, for, besides having the chief
+municipal authority in their own districts, they are allowed to decide <a id="d0e364"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e364">38</a>]</span>judicially in civil cases, when the amount in dispute does not exceed the value of forty-four dollars, or about ten pounds
+sterling, and in criminal cases undertake the prosecution, collecting the evidence and ascertaining the charges against any
+delinquent within their district, all of which is remitted by them to the provincial-governor and judge for his decision.
+Their election takes place annually, on the commencement of the new year, all over the country, and their power is exactly
+defined in a printed commission which they all hold from the Governor of the Philippines.
+
+</p>
+<p>The half-breeds, or people of mixed Chinese and Indian blood, known by the name of <a id="d0e368"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Vangleys">Sangleys</span>, are usually permitted, in districts where their number is considerable, to elect a Major from among their own class, whose
+power over them is exactly similar to that of the captain of the village where they reside over the aboriginal Indians: they
+do not interfere with each other, and are quite independent of any one save the alcalde of the province. When there are two
+gobernadorcillos in the same village, they each look after their own class, whether Mestizos or natives.
+<a id="d0e371"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e371">39</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In addition to these local officials there is another curious body of men, called <i>Cabezas de barangay</i>; each of whom has under his charge about fifty families, whose tribute to government he has to collect, and for the amount
+of which he is held accountable.
+
+</p>
+<p>The persons who fill this office are usually resident in the immediate neighbourhood or in the same street with those from
+whom they have to collect the tribute, and have some slight authority over those who pay it to them, such as deciding petty
+quarrels and disputes among them, &amp;c. The institution of this body is uncertain, and is said to have been originated by the
+aboriginal Indians themselves, and to have been found in full operation at the time of the earliest Spanish intercourse with
+them. The probability is, however, that at that period it was of a military nature, and their duties then were more to officer
+the armies of the native kings than for any of the uses it has been subsequently wisely put to by the white man. The office
+is hereditary in their families; but in the event of the person who exercises it changing his residence, or from other causes
+becoming unfit to discharge its duties, a successor is elected in his place.
+<a id="d0e379"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e379">40</a>]</span></p>
+<p>They are recompensed for their trouble in collecting taxes, &amp;c., by being themselves exempted from paying tribute to the state,
+and have several privileges by virtue of their office. As a body, they are always considered the principal people of their
+village, and only from among them, and by their votes alone, is the mayor or gobernadorcillo of the <i>pueblo</i> chosen; that is to say, they choose a list of three Indians from among their own number for that office, each of whom should
+by law be able to speak, read, and write Spanish; and this list being forwarded to the alcalde, he indicates which of them
+is to be chosen, by scratching his name and filling up his commission. The election of these candidates ought to be made with
+closed doors, and must be authorized by the presence of an escribano, or attorney, to note the proceedings. The parish priest
+is allowed to attend if he choose, in order that he may influence the election of fit persons for the office by speaking in
+their favour, but he has not any vote in the matter.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the capital, owing to the number of Chinamen there, and in the neighbourhood, they are obliged to choose a capitan from
+among themselves, in order that he may collect their tribute <a id="d0e387"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e387">41</a>]</span>and arrange their petty disputes with each other, which some one conversant with their customs and language is only fit to
+do.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are some fees now attached to this office, but the duties are so troublesome that the industrious Celestials very frequently
+find them incompatible with the management of their own trade or business, and for the most part are not at all ambitious
+of the honour of filling the situation, even although some fees accompany it.
+
+</p>
+<p>At the same time that the capitan is elected, his lieutenant and a head constable are also chosen by their countrymen.
+
+</p>
+<p>All Chinese arriving at Manilla are registered in a book kept for the purpose, for, as they pay tribute according to their
+occupation, the amount of it, and their numbers, are at once ascertained from that. Should they leave the country, their passports
+have to be countersigned by their capitan, who is to some extent responsible for them while residing in it.
+
+</p>
+<p>The emoluments of government offices are not very high; much too low, in fact, to recompense the class of men who are required
+to discharge them, and the consequence is, (as usual in such cases), that extortion and improper means are <a id="d0e397"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e397">42</a>]</span>resorted to in order to increase their amount, all of which fall much heavier on the people than regularly collected taxes,
+sufficient to support their proper or adequate pay, would amount to.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the province of Cagayan, for instance, the alcalde&#8217;s nominal pay is 600 dollars a-year, which sum is of course totally
+insufficient to recompense any educated man for undertaking and supporting the dignity of governor of a considerable province.
+But as the best tobacco is grown there, one of his duties is to collect and forward it to Manilla, for which he is allowed
+a commission, and this, with other privileges, is found to yield him in ordinary years about 20,000 dollars a-year, being
+in reality one of the most lucrative situations at the disposal of the Government.
+
+</p>
+<p>I believe that most people will concur with me in the opinion that the system of reducing the fixed official pay below a remuneration
+that will induce men of standing and education to undertake the duties which their situation requires them to exercise, and
+to trust to exaction supplying its place, is extremely impolitic, and much more expensive to the country than a more liberal
+scale of pay would prove.
+
+</p>
+<p>The alcaldes are allowed to trade on their own <a id="d0e405"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e405">43</a>]</span>account, and for this their position affords them many facilities; but for the permission to do so, they are required to pay
+a considerable annual fee to Government, ranging from about one hundred to three thousand dollars.
+
+</p>
+<p>The wisdom of granting them this permission is very doubtful, as it not unfrequently happens that the privilege is abused
+by rapacious men, eager to make the most of their time and collect a fortune, and occasionally it gives rise to much oppression.
+
+</p>
+<p>The poor Indian cultivators of the soil, accustomed all their lives to look upon the alcalde of their native province as the
+greatest and most powerful man they know of, have very little redress for their grievance, should that person, in the pursuit
+of money-making and trade buy up all their crop of sugar, rice, or other produce, whatever it may be, and in a falling market
+refuse to receive the articles contracted for, or to complete the bargain agreed upon with them. On the contrary, however,
+should anything he may have contracted to buy be rising in value at Manilla, the poor Indian, who has sold it too cheap to
+him, has no chance of getting clear of the bad bargain he may have made with the <a id="d0e411"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e411">44</a>]</span>alcalde, should it appear to that individual worth his while to keep him to it, as every means are at his command or beck,
+aided by all the force of the executive, and the terrors of a law administered by himself, to compel him to ratify his contract.
+
+</p>
+<p>In these circumstances the alcalde never makes a bad bargain, or loses money on any of his transactions, and there is little
+wonder that rapid fortunes are made by men holding these situations, when such scandalous means are constantly resorted to
+by them, so that generally, after a very few years of office, these people are upon very easy terms with the world, although
+nominally only receiving a wretchedly low pay.
+
+</p>
+<p>Notwithstanding these abuses, however, the government of the people is on the whole much more effective, and consequently
+better, than it is in many places of British India. No such thing was ever known as disaffection becoming so generally diffused
+among them as to lead to a rebellion of the people, or an attempt to shake off the leeches who suck them so deeply; and this
+can only be attributed to the sway the priesthood have over the minds of the Indians, as without their influence and aid,
+beyond a <a id="d0e417"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e417">45</a>]</span>doubt, such an attempt would be made; and if it should ever come about, it would be no very difficult affair for the natives,
+if properly led, to overthrow the sway of the Spaniards. Although there is very little religion among the Indians, there is
+abundance of superstitious feeling, and fear of the padre&#8217;s displeasure; indeed, the church has long proved to be, upon the
+whole, by much the most cheap and efficacious instrument of good government and order that could be employed anywhere, so
+long as its influence has been properly directed. In the Philippines there appears to be little doubt but that it is one of
+the most beneficial that could be exerted as a medium for the preservation of good order among the people, who are admonished
+and taught to be contented, while it is not forgetful of their interests, as they very generally learn reading by its aid&#8212;so
+much of it, at least, as to enable them to read their prayer-books, or other religious manuals.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are very few Indians who are unable to read, and I have always observed that the Manilla men serving on board of ships,
+and composing their crews, have been much oftener able to subscribe their names to the ship&#8217;s articles <a id="d0e421"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e421">46</a>]</span>than the British seamen on board the same vessels could do, or even on board of Scottish ships, whose crews are sometimes
+superior men, so far as education is concerned, to those born in other parts of Great Britain. This fact startled me at first;
+but it has been frequently remarked upon by people very strongly prejudiced in favour of white men, and who despise the black
+skins of Manilla men, regarding them as inferior beings to themselves, as strongly as many of our countrymen often do.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e423"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e423">47</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+<p>From old prejudices, and other causes, the Spanish people have not as yet learned how to work the more liberal form of government
+now enjoyed by their country. But there is no doubt that the experience necessary to do so is daily being acquired by them
+at home, and when it becomes prevalent, its effects may be expected to be shown by the class of men selected to administer
+the government of their colonies, the white population of which are of considerably more advanced intelligence than their
+countrymen in Spain.
+
+</p>
+<p>In most colonies the people appear to possess a superior degree of vigour or freshness of mind to those born in Europe, or
+in old and thickly inhabited <a id="d0e431"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e431">48</a>]</span>countries. This may result in a great degree from their comparative freedom from conventional prejudices, the results of a
+long and insensible growth in families, which trammel nearly every mind in densely peopled countries, and more especially
+in places where commerce is languidly carried on. Perhaps also in some measure it may be owing to the greater facility the
+poorer classes have in all colonies of earning a livelihood, which, by freeing their minds from anxiety on that score, leaves
+some room for their speculations on other matters.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the administration of government, they are even now guided essentially by the most imperative rules; but I hope that, ere
+long, in many cases, the very arbitrary proceedings of their chief authorities abroad, may become subject to approval by a
+council such as exists in our Indian possessions, and in Java among the Dutch, as there can be little doubt but that it would
+prove advantageous to the country did such a body exist.
+
+</p>
+<p>As an example of the procedures of the Manilla government, I may mention the following facts, which occurred to an acquaintance
+of my own, and on which every dependence may be placed.
+<a id="d0e437"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e437">49</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Don Francisco P. de O&#8212;&#8212; having been presented with the governorship of one of the best or most lucrative provinces in the
+Philippines, set out for his residency and commenced his duties, which he continued to fulfil satisfactorily to himself and
+the people for upwards of a year&#8212;about fifteen months, I believe. His commission as Governor embraced four years from the
+date of his appointment; however, at the end of the first year in his office, a nephew of the then Governor happened to arrive
+at Manilla, and it became an object of interest to his uncle to get him into some good place before the term of his appointment
+as Governor expired. Casting his eyes around on everything that might serve his turn, he happened to recollect Don Francisco&#8217;s
+alcalde-ship, and forthwith despatched an order to my unfortunate friend to return to Manilla, there to answer some complaints
+which, he alleged in the order of recall, had been made against his administration of the province, and at the same time told
+him to deliver over all authority to the person he sent for the purpose, that individual being neither more nor less than
+his own nephew.
+
+</p>
+<p>Don Francisco, ignorant of committing any crime or fault, or of anything that could justify <a id="d0e442"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e442">50</a>]</span>this very unceremonious recall, hastened to Manilla, and presenting himself at the palace, demanded what charges had been
+lodged against him, and by whom they had been made. But he could learn nothing of them, and was commanded by the Governor
+to wait in Manilla till he should be formally summoned to answer them. It is now, however, upwards of ten years since this
+happened, and from that day to this he has never been summoned, nor has he been even able to find out what the charges were
+on which he was recalled from his lucrative appointment, although repeated applications were made to the Governor who recalled
+him for a trial. All the subsequent Governors have professed their inability to give him the information, which, had such
+charges actually been framed, must have been found in the archives, so that no doubt can now exist but that this villanous
+trick was trumped up by the Governor to serve his own family by the bestowal of Don Francisco&#8217;s place. And as my friend has
+since filled other situations, (and, in fact, is an Alcalde,) having been selected by different Governors for office, the
+accusation does not in the least affect his character.
+
+</p>
+<p>But, in truth, many of the natives of Spain <a id="d0e446"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e446">51</a>]</span>who are even now selected to fill the highest offices, are about as despotic and as unscrupulous as any Asiatics in their
+notions of government and in their exercise of power, and as bad even as the Turks themselves are in their administration
+of justice and equity; while the Spanish government, and the political knowledge of the people, are infinitely behind the
+Turkish government in everything concerning their commercial policy.
+
+</p>
+<p>During the time of electing members for the Cortes, or parliament in Spain, of course the existing government were anxious
+to secure the tide of the general election running in their favour&#8212;but what means do you, my courteous reader, imagine they
+took to secure this object? Why, neither more nor less than to order the police to seize all persons suspected of being likely
+to oppose their party actively at the ensuing elections throughout the country. Thousands of people were actually seized and
+hurried off to jail, to be confined there till the danger was past; and many of them, on the jails becoming too full to contain
+them all, were hurried to a seaport town and put on board ships sailing to Manilla, or, by hundreds at a time, sent out on
+a voyage of four months&#8217; duration, to reconsider <a id="d0e450"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e450">52</a>]</span>their political opinions, and then to find their road home as they best might.
+
+</p>
+<p>These people were captured in all situations of time and place, and were not allowed to communicate with their friends while
+in prison in Spain, which must have given rise to at least as much distress and privation among as many persons as the numbers
+of those seized, for very many of them were people with families entirely dependent upon them for support.
+
+</p>
+<p>About a thousand of these <i>deportados</i> reached Manilla in 1848&#8211;9, and being entirely destitute of all resources or means of subsistence, they had to be taken care
+of by the Colonial Government, who allowed them some rice and water every day, and had, finally, to charter vessels to re-ship
+them for the Peninsula. One of them was an Irishman, who having entered the Spanish service when a lad, had reached the rank
+of Colonel; his father was a general officer and K.C.B. of our own army, who, I believe, had married a Spanish lady, and after
+his death, his family had become resident in Spain.
+
+</p>
+<p>The bad accommodation of a crowded ship, together with the want of change of clothes, which he was not allowed to procure
+from his <a id="d0e461"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e461">53</a>]</span>friends, and the general filthiness of the people with whom he was obliged to be cooped up during the long voyage, acted on
+him so severely that it caused his death a very short time after his arrival at Manilla. Thus the poor fellow fell a sacrifice
+to this abominable stretch of arbitrary power, and dying destitute, was buried there, after having been maintained decently
+in a hotel during the remainder of his existence, at the expense of his countrymen then at Manilla.
+
+</p>
+<p>When acts so atrocious as these can be done with impunity in any European country by a powerful minister of the crown, we
+may form some idea of its advance in the arts of self-government and the security of its people.
+
+</p>
+<p>This young man was very far from being the only person who fell a victim to these acts, as many died from causes similar to
+those which deprived him of life; and his case is only mentioned to give some idea of the lengths men will proceed to when
+no checks are placed on the Government machine, to prevent its bursting, and damaging thousands. These abuses are so shameful,
+that they are scarcely credible in Britain; but they are easily capable of corroboration by inquiry and a little knowledge
+of Spain, where very frequently <a id="d0e467"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e467">54</a>]</span>caprice is the only law in existence, or at least is the only one acted upon. I might multiply instances, but this is doubtless
+sufficient.
+
+</p>
+<p>The orders of the Court at Madrid are not always laws in their colonies, for every now and then the most imperative commands
+come out from Spain which are refused obedience to at Manilla, where it is openly asserted that the home government gives
+orders in favour of importunate suitors, without the least expectation that they will be acted upon by those to whom they
+are addressed; granting them, in fact, merely to get rid of troublesome people who might annoy them at home if their demands
+were refused.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e471"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e471">55</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+<p>People are generally seen to most advantage in their own houses; and nowhere, I think, does any one appear to play the host
+better than an average specimen of a Spanish gentleman under his own roof.
+
+</p>
+<p>Notwithstanding a great deal of ceremony and the customary exaggerated polite expressions used to every stranger, there is
+so much innate hospitality in the national character that it is not to be mistaken, and is perhaps one of their best and greatest
+virtues as individuals.
+
+</p>
+<p>The modes of expression usual on occasions such as that of a first visit to a house appear rather strange to any one born
+under a colder sun than that of old Castile, and the first time that <a id="d0e481"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e481">56</a>]</span>one is told, on taking leave of his host at a place he has been visiting for the first time, that the house, and every thing
+and person in it, are his, or at his disposal, he is apt to be puzzled by the exaggeration of the speech which contains such
+an unlimited offer, should he be ignorant that it is quite a usual expression. Of course it means nothing more than were any
+one to say or subscribe himself in English, &#8220;I am your obedient servant,&#8221; which he may be very far from feeling, and may be
+constantly in the habit of using to his inferiors, and even to people paid or employed by himself.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some years ago an eccentric man, when this expression was used to him, was known occasionally to interpret the words in their
+literal sense, and in more than one instance he had the credit of having adroitly made his court to a lady in that manner.
+He would watch for an opportunity, or give a turn to the conversation, which would afford him a chance of expressing admiration
+of some ornament she wore at the time, when the fair owner would, as a matter of course, say that it was at his disposal.
+Much to her surprise, the offer would be accepted, and the swain would walk off with the ornament he had praised. <a id="d0e485"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e485">57</a>]</span>However, next day he always returned it in person; and to soothe her irritation, which must have been excited by such conduct,
+he took the opportunity of presenting her with some other ornament, or complimentary gift of some description. This, if done
+as an atonement and peace-offering, would probably be accepted, and the way was paved for an entrance into her good graces,
+which he might have been quite unable to obtain by any more direct means.
+
+</p>
+<p>Frankness or openness of manner is considered by the Spaniards to be the most desirable point of good breeding; and when any
+one possesses that quality, he is pretty sure to be well received by them.
+
+</p>
+<p>It is the custom at Manilla for any respectably-dressed European passing by a house where music and dancing are going on,
+to be permitted to join the party, although he may be a perfect stranger to every one there; and should any one do so, after
+having made his bow to the master of the house, and said some words, of course about the liberty he was taking, and his fondness
+for music and dancing, &amp;c., he is always welcomed by him, and is at perfect liberty to ask any lady present to dance; nor
+is she likely to refuse <a id="d0e491"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e491">58</a>]</span>him, as her doing so would scarcely be considered well bred.
+
+</p>
+<p>This degree of freedom is not, however, at all times acted on in the houses of the natives of Spain, or of any European foreigners,
+as any one going so unceremoniously into these might not meet with so cordial a reception as he would do from the rich Mestizos,
+who, when they give such <i>f&ecirc;tes</i> on feast days, are in general well pleased to receive Europeans, although perfect strangers, in their houses.
+
+</p>
+<p>These very free and unceremonious manners, among people who have such a reputation for the love of ceremony in all forms,
+are strange enough, for the same custom prevails in Spain, although to a more limited extent.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some years ago a British merchant, resident at Manilla, was very much blamed by his countrymen for not conforming to the customs
+of the country in this respect. He broke <a id="d0e502"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: throug">through</span> them in this manner;&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<p>After the China war, a part of the expedition visited Manilla, including some of the principal officers both of the army and
+navy, who had just been so gallantly distinguishing themselves in that country. On their arrival at Manilla, the <a id="d0e507"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e507">59</a>]</span>houses of their countrymen to whom they went provided with introductions were in a great measure thrown open to them; and
+of course, as their hospitable entertainers wished to show them something of the people and the place, a good deal of gaiety
+was got up to amuse them. Among others the gentleman in question gave a ball to General Lord Saltoun and the Admiral, including,
+of course, most of the other officers of the expedition. The party was a large one, and included nearly all the British residents
+there, together with his Spanish acquaintances.
+
+</p>
+<p>Hearing the sounds of music and dancing in the street, a stranger entered the house and walked up stairs; and unperceived,
+I believe, by the landlord, entered the ball-room, where he engaged a Spanish lady to dance,&#8212;the girl whom he asked chancing
+to be the daughter of a military officer of rank, and a particular friend of the giver of the party. On leading her up to
+her place, the stranger was remarked, and recognised by some one present, who asked his host if he knew who the person was;
+but he, on looking at him, merely said that he did not, and was passing on without more notice or thought about him. <a id="d0e511"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e511">60</a>]</span>Just at the moment, some one wishing to quiz him, said to the host, who was a man of hasty temper and feelings,&#8212;&#8220;So, D&#8212;&#8212;,
+you have got my tailor to meet your guests,&#8221; pointing, at the same time, towards the stranger whom he had just been observing.
+
+</p>
+<p>Of course, Mr. D&#8212;&#8212; was angry at the liberty taken by such a person in joining his party, and probably afraid of the laugh
+it would give rise to; for he walked up to the tailor, and asked him in a most angry manner by whose invitation he came there,
+and then, without waiting for any reply, catching his coat-collar, walked with him to the top of the stairs, and kicked him
+down. The man complained to the governor, and the consequence was that Mr. D&#8212;&#8212; was fined a considerable amount, and for some
+time banished to a place at a short distance from Manilla, which he was forbidden to enter. As he was a merchant, and of course
+had his business to attend to, this was a most severe punishment, which, by the influence of the Consul, however, was subsequently
+rescinded, and he was allowed to return to town.
+
+</p>
+<p>In giving entertainments in honour of their <a id="d0e517"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e517">61</a>]</span>saints, great sums of money are frequently spent by the richer class of Mestizos and Indians, every one appearing to vie with
+his neighbour, as to who shall be most splendid in his saint&#8217;s honour; and even among nearly the whole of the poor people
+there is always some little extravagance gone into on these occasions: some time previous to the feast taking place, part
+of their earnings are carefully set apart for the feast-night&#8217;s enjoyment.
+
+</p>
+<p>At many of their <i>fiestas</i>, besides the devotional exercises, there is a great deal of amusement going on, the Mestiza girls being frequently good-looking,
+and nearly all of them addicted to dancing; many of them are passionately fond of waltzes, and dance them remarkably well&#8212;better,
+I think, than any women I have elsewhere seen in a private room.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their dress, which is well adapted to the climate, is, when worn by a good-looking girl, particularly neat.
+
+</p>
+<p>It consists of a little shirt, generally made of pi&ntilde;a cloth, with wide short sleeves: it is worn loose, and, quite unbound
+to the figure in any way, reaches to the waist, round which the <i>saya</i> or petticoat is girt, it being generally <a id="d0e531"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e531">62</a>]</span>made of silk, checked or striped, of gay colours, of <i>hus&egrave;</i> cloth, or of cotton cloth. Within doors, these compose their dress, no stockings being worn, but their well-formed feet,
+inserted in slight slippers without heels, and embroidered with gold and silver lace, lose nothing in beauty from the want
+of them.
+
+</p>
+<p>Out of doors, another piece of dress called the <i>sapiz</i>, composed of dark blue silk or cotton cloth, slightly striped with narrow white stripes, is usually worn over the saya.
+
+</p>
+<p>No bonnets or hats of any sort are worn by them, their long and beautiful hair being considered a sufficient protection to
+the head, which they arrange in something like the European fashion, it being fastened by a comb, or some gold ornament in
+a knot at the back of the head.
+
+</p>
+<p>On going out of doors, a handkerchief is often thrown over the head, should the sun be strong, or an umbrella or parasol is
+carried as a protection against it.
+
+</p>
+<p>A similar dress, made of coarser and cheaper materials, is the usual costume of all the native women.
+
+</p>
+<p>The men, both native and Mestizo, wear trousers fastened round the waist by a cord or tape, <a id="d0e549"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e549">63</a>]</span>the fabric being sometimes silk of country manufacture, for their gala dresses, or of cotton cloth striped and coloured, for
+every-day use.
+
+</p>
+<p>The shirt, which is worn outside the trousers, that is to say, the tails hanging loose above the trousers, and reaching to
+just below the hips, is generally made of pi&ntilde;a cloth, or, among the poorest people, of blue or white cotton cloth. When of
+pi&ntilde;a cloth, the pattern is generally of blue or other coloured stripes with flowers, &amp;c. worked on them, and it is a very
+handsome and gay piece of dress. When worn outside the trousers, it is much cooler than when stuffed into them in the European
+manner. A hat and slippers, or sandals of native manufacture, complete their dress, and the only difference of costume between
+the rich and poor consists in the greater or less value of the materials which compose it. No coat or jacket is worn, but
+many of the men, and nearly all the women, wear a rosary of beads or gold round their necks; and frequently a gold cross,
+suspended by a chain of the same metal, rests between the bosoms of the fair. Many of them also wear charms, which having
+been blessed by the priest, are supposed to be faithful guardians, and to preserve the wearer from all evil.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e553"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e553">64</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+<p>The honours paid to the saints by the celebration of their feast-days are nearly altogether practised by the Mestizo and Indian
+population, the richer or upper classes of Spaniards being for the most part too careless on such occasions, except when their
+turn comes to dance at the <i>f&ecirc;tes</i>, or to eat the supper set out by their Mestizo neighbours on these anniversaries; and certainly, if their piety be judged
+by the alacrity usually displayed on such occasions, they will stand very forward in the race out of purgatory. For, strange
+to say, the modern Spaniards&#8212;at least those who come to the Philippines&#8212;are as little superstitious or priest-ridden as the
+people of any nation in Europe. Probably this is a symptom <a id="d0e562"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e562">65</a>]</span>of their return to a more moderate degree of faith than they used to evince prior to the French Revolution, which has altered
+the tone of opinion and manners throughout the world. And after the severity and rigid observance of all the church high-days
+and holydays formerly prevalent among them, the tide of opinion appears to have run into the opposite extreme.
+
+</p>
+<p>I have frequently been astonished at discovering the extent to which infidel notions are current among my Spanish acquaintances;
+their prevailing opinions on the subject being, that the priests and some of the tenets of the Catholic church are behind
+the age, and as such, are to some extent unworthy of the serious attention of well-informed people of the present day, and
+that those things are only suitable for women and children. <i>Es cosa de mugeres</i>, is the usual expression, should the subject be mentioned; and as regards the priests, the laity very generally fancy that
+they must be watched carefully, as they are certain to assume importance should an opportunity offer for thrusting their noses
+into any affair they can, military or civil&#8212;it matters not which to these ambitious men.
+
+</p>
+<p>Among the native population, however, high <a id="d0e571"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e571">66</a>]</span>church opinions, or a notion that virtue is inherent in the walls of the church and the priestly office, is very common, so
+that whatever the <i>padre</i> says is looked upon as indisputable by them. But I cannot say that any rational systems of religion, or feelings not associated
+so much with the <i>padre&#8217;s</i> office and dress, and with the stone and lime of the church, as with the more pure and immaterial subjects of religious belief,
+exist among them, or influence their conduct. Frequently one sees instances of this, which place their feelings in the grossest
+and worst light. For example, the first act of a courtesan in the morning is generally to repair to the church, and after,
+as a matter of course, having said her prayers, to pass the time in any species of debauchery or immorality her lovers may
+wish. I state this fact, to give some idea of the extent of superstition and of priestly influence over their conduct, which
+shows how powerfully mere habits and custom may influence our manners without improving our minds, when we are brought up
+in a formal routine of habits of respect for we don&#8217;t know well what; for they have no further acquaintance with the principles
+of religious belief than the habit of crossing <a id="d0e579"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e579">67</a>]</span>themselves before figures of the Virgin and the crucifixion.
+
+</p>
+<p>For even these women, infamous though they be, seldom omit the observance of such practices, and are in general as punctual
+in repeating diurnally the formal prayer which has been taught them in childhood, as any Christian can be, whenever the hour
+of <i>ora&ccedil;ion</i> is come, which is notified to all the population by the tolling of the church bells.
+
+</p>
+<p>However, Manilla appears not to be quite singular as to these matters; for it has been frequently stated by visitors to the
+states of the Church, that nine months after the great religious festival of the Carnival there, a much greater number of
+illegitimate children are born than during other seasons of the year.
+
+</p>
+<p>This statement, which I have seen mentioned as a statistical fact, is probably attributable to the idleness of the people,
+ignorant and uninstructed as to any higher devotional feelings than those which custom teaches; although, doubtless, religious
+admonition, having a tendency to unloose the mind, and withdraw it from its customary objects of interest, may induce these
+softer emotions, and among people in whom the animal <a id="d0e590"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e590">68</a>]</span>passions preponderate over those of the mind, or of a spiritual nature, may frequently lead to conduct of this loose description.
+
+</p>
+<p>Perhaps, also, the sense of satisfaction after having gone through the ceremony of attending church, and of having performed
+the humble duty which all are taught to practise there, disposes the people to this license, for they carry away no new idea
+with them from the sacred house. The formal exercise there being gone through by rote, without exciting new feelings, or touching
+new chords in their hearts, may cause them to break away from strictness, and give a rein to their passions after the exercise
+of their religious duties.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Indians are people who, being bred up with a regard to observances which retain no hold over their minds&#8212;at least, over
+the reason which God has endowed them with&#8212;in order to judge for themselves, think religious observances derive their importance
+only from custom; but having been trained up with little regard to the sterner and self-denying mental duties or instruction
+usually held up to our admiration in Britain and other Protestant countries, they can scarcely be expected to practise them.
+In addition to <a id="d0e596"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e596">69</a>]</span>this, the heat of the climate probably disposes them this way; as in all countries where the <i>dolce far niente</i> is most agreeable to them, or is generally practised by the inhabitants, those feelings are likely to prevail in a greater
+degree than where active habits are more congenial to the people and the temperature of the climate.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e601"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e601">70</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+<p>The habits of the Spanish residents at Manilla are exceedingly indolent. As persons in the government service form the great
+proportion of the white population, a sketch of the habits of one of them may not be uninteresting;&#8212;say those of an average
+officer of the Hacienda, for instance. He usually gets out of bed about six, or a little after, to enjoy the cool air of the
+morning, and sip his chocolate, with the aid of <i>broas</i>, without which he could scarcely manage to get through the day; he then dresses, and drives to his office, where he remains
+till twelve o&#8217;clock, which hour finishes his official duties for the day. While in his office the nature of his work is not
+very arduous, and does not appear to <a id="d0e610"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e610">71</a>]</span>call into play any powers of the mind, as it appears to consist only in his remaining for about four hours in a cool and large
+room, generally seated at a table or desk, overlooking a number of native writers, occupied in making out and filling up forms
+which are required by the existing regulations for the government service. The Spaniard, however, has nothing to do with all
+that, only occasionally exerting himself so far as to sign his name, or merely to dash his rubrica, without taking the trouble
+to sign his name, to the papers presented to him by these native copyists; and should you enter his office, he generally appears
+to be just awaking from a nap, as he opens his eyes, and rouses himself to salute a visitor.
+
+</p>
+<p>At noon the public offices are closed, and he drives home to dine about one or two o&#8217;clock, after which he generally sleeps
+till about five, for nearly all of the Spanish residents take a long siesta. About that time of the day, however, he is awakened
+to dress and prepare for the <i>paseo</i> on the Calyada, and for the <i>tertulia</i> after it, at the house of some acquaintance; or if he should by any chance happen to be without acquaintance, to saunter
+through the Chinamen&#8217;s shops, admiring walking-canes, cravats, or waistcoat-pieces; and <a id="d0e620"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e620">72</a>]</span>while so engaged, he is pretty sure to meet some companion for a gossip, or other amusement. After this he sets off to sup
+at home, and to sleep till another day comes round, when the same routine must be gone through.
+
+</p>
+<p>It would be hard to conjecture a mode of passing or sauntering through life with less apparent object than many of them have.
+Books are scarce and expensive, and are in little demand by most of the residents, even if they were worth reading, and cheaper,
+and more procurable than they now are; the library&#8212;if the term may be applied to their collection&#8212;of such people, generally
+only comprising one or two plays, and perhaps a novel&#8212;sometimes also Don Quixote&#8217;s adventures, which, with a volume of poetry,
+is about the average amount of learning and amusement on their book-shelves. But should the owner be a military man, he probably
+has, in addition to these, some Spanish standard book, equivalent to our &#8220;Dundas&#8217;s Principles,&#8221; or &#8220;Regulations for the Cavalry.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>Smoking, sleeping, and eating, are the labours of their days, and in all of these they are adepts. Their prevalent taste,
+however, as regards cookery, is not suitable to a British palate, as the <a id="d0e626"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e626">73</a>]</span>favourite accompaniment of garlic is commonly used in such a quantity by their cooks, that they are very apt to spoil a dinner
+for a foreigner&#8217;s eating, unless they are checked or cautioned with regard to the use of it.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their usual drink is wine of different kinds, which they take out of a glass or tumbler, as we would beer or water: the quantity
+consumed is moderate enough, about a pint being a usual allowance&#8212;and that is frequently mixed with about an equal quantity
+of water. Sherry, claret, priorato, pajarete, manzanilla, malaga, and muscatel, are the sorts most in request, all of them
+being of ordinary quality, to the taste of any one accustomed to drink good wine at home, from which the wines procurable
+here are as different as possible, and especially the sherry. But in that resides a mystery known best to the wine-merchants,
+who doctor up the wine consumed in Great Britain to suit the taste of those who buy it from them. Strange to say, even to
+this, a Spanish colony, there is not sent out a single pipe of wine, such as any one accustomed to drink the British <i>composition</i> would call good sherry.
+
+</p>
+<p>Claret, or <i>vino tinto</i>, is very generally used in <a id="d0e638"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e638">74</a>]</span>preference to tea or coffee at breakfast, but at that early time of the day it is mixed with a large proportion of water.
+This meal, however, is not a general one in the Philippines, as the custom of taking chocolate in the morning destroys all
+appetite for it, and the early dinner hour of the Spaniards in general, does not render it essential.
+
+</p>
+<p>The want of interesting occupation, and the heat of the sun, preventing out-of-door exercise during the day, has doubtless
+originated these indolent customs, which have given rise to many bad habits, and the low scale of morality prevailing among
+them.
+
+</p>
+<p>A large proportion of them being bachelors, are in the habit of selecting a mistress as a companion with whom they may forget
+the dullness, and shake off the apathy of their aimless existence; a very large proportion, in fact, nearly all of them, being
+in the habit of choosing such a household companion from among the Creole, Mestiza, or native girls, but generally from the
+last two races.
+
+</p>
+<p>The native girls have the reputation of proving more faithful to their lovers than the other two, as they look upon such a
+connection in the light of a marriage, and consider themselves guilty of <a id="d0e646"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e646">75</a>]</span>no immorality during its continuance. When a native beauty forms such a connection with a white man, her relations do not
+sunder all the former ties existing between her and them, by casting her off, but on the contrary are, as frequently as not,
+highly pleased at it, viewing the affair in the light of a fortunate marriage for her.
+
+</p>
+<p>These feelings, however, are not universal, for some of the richer class of Indians would be highly displeased with a female
+relation forming such a connection.
+
+</p>
+<p>Among the Indians themselves this arrangement frequently takes place, as very many of the poorest people are unable to save
+money enough to pay their marriage fees, and in the event of a couple living together without having had the ceremony performed
+previously, they regard themselves, and are considered by their neighbours, as not the less man and wife. As an instance of
+the extent to which this prevails among them, I may mention a circumstance which struck me much at the time:&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<p>Being near the cathedral at Manilla one evening in April last, I entered an open door of the edifice and wandered into a room
+attached to it, where <a id="d0e654"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e654">76</a>]</span>several people were in waiting, and among them several women with children to be baptized. I stopped to witness the ceremony,
+and had the curiosity to look into the register where their names were enrolled; in that book, two of them were described
+as illegitimate children, and the third was the only one born in matrimony.
+
+</p>
+<p>Although the custom does not prevail to anything like the extent of two-thirds of the population, still it is a very frequent
+one, and proves among other things, that the sort of religion prevailing among the people is only that of forms, possessing
+no sufficient hold over their minds to regulate their conduct.
+
+</p>
+<p>Compare their religious ideas with those of the old Scottish covenanters, or English puritans, and how different are the effects
+of faith; but perhaps they are not more dissimilar than the natures of the two races are. For there is no race in the world
+with all the good qualities of the Celtic breed crossed by the Saxon, and that again by the Norman; for depend upon it, blood
+tells in every human being&#8212;aye, and as much in men as in dogs or horses.
+
+</p>
+<p>But, unfortunately for ourselves, men pay less attention to the innate qualities and virtues of <a id="d0e662"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e662">77</a>]</span>blood and pedigree, when selecting a mate for themselves, than they do when their dogs or horses are in question, as then
+no trouble is spared to trace out and scrutinise the qualities of <i>their</i> sires, and to breed only from a good stock.
+
+</p>
+<p>By pedigree, of course not the worldly station of men is meant, but the history of their lives and reputations, as good and
+useful men of their time. Of necessity both parents affect the character of their offspring, and so we frequently see a great
+and good man leaving behind him none in his family capable of supplying his place. Now, how is this? Why, it comes from the
+mistake he has made in selecting his mate, for if he had been more cautious in that respect the produce would have been equal
+to the promise.
+
+</p>
+<p>How often do we see wise men with silly wives and tall men with short wives. The only wonder is, that the offspring of such
+couples are not worse than they are.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e671"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e671">78</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER X.</h2>
+<p>The intercourse between the Spaniards and many of the foreigners residing at Manilla is not very great, as the British here,
+as everywhere else, appear to prefer associating with their own countrymen to frequenting the houses of their Spanish friends,
+even although quite sure of a cordial reception there. The time for visiting is in the evening, when there are numbers of
+impromptu conversaziones&#8212;or tertulias, as they are called&#8212;of which the Dons are very fond, and in which very many of their
+evenings are passed.
+
+</p>
+<p>Any one having a few Spanish acquaintances is pretty sure to number among them some persons who, from their own character,
+or that of some member of their family, such as a pretty <a id="d0e679"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e679">79</a>]</span>and pleasant wife, or a handsome daughter, has generally many visitors at his house, perhaps six, ten, or a dozen of an evening,
+who call there without any preconcerted plan, and sit down to play a round game at cards or gossip with each other for an
+hour. Should there be ladies of the party, music and dancing are probably the amusements for an hour or two; you may, of course,
+escape and go on to the house of some one else should the party turn out to be dull, which, however, is very seldom the case
+when Spaniards are the company, as every one appears to exert himself to amuse and be amused to the best of his power.
+
+</p>
+<p>The time for evening visits is any time after seven o&#8217;clock, for till about that hour nearly all the white population are
+enjoying the cool air on the Calyada, or on some of the other drives, all of which are crowded with carriages from about half-past
+five till that time of the evening.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some of these equipages are handsome enough, and are almost universally horsed by a pair of the country ponies, there being
+only one or two people who turn out with a pair of Sydney horses, and very few who drive a single-horse vehicle, <a id="d0e685"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e685">80</a>]</span>although it is met with now and then. The only persons allowed to drive four <a id="d0e687"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: houses">horses</span> in their carriages are the Governor and the Archbishop: this regulation is frequently grumbled at by the Spanish Jehus, and
+one gentleman, the colonel of a regiment, having applied to the government for permission to indulge his taste in this respect
+by driving a four-in-hand, was refused it, so he had to content himself with turning out with only three in his drag. With
+that number of quadrupeds, however, he did a good deal to frighten and amuse the world, apparently wishing to break his neck,
+in which he very nearly succeeded on more than one occasion; Spanish accomplishments in driving being by no means equal to
+those general at home.
+
+</p>
+<p>A young Spaniard who fills an important office connected with the commerce of Manilla, a situation he is said to owe more
+to the frailty of his mother, a fair lady at the court of the late King of Spain, whom he exactly resembles in appearance,
+temper, and manners, than to any qualifications especially pointing him out for the post, used frequently to assert his royal
+blood by turning out a neat barouche and pair, accompanied <a id="d0e692"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e692">81</a>]</span>by two outriders, and certainly he looked much smarter and better appointed than either of the authorities driving four horses.
+
+</p>
+<p>The expense of keeping horses is very small, so that nearly all, except the very poorest people, keep carriages, which in
+that climate are considered more as necessaries of life than as luxuries, and to a certain extent really are so; for the sun
+most effectually prevents Europeans walking to any distance during the heat of the day, and should any one attempt doing so,
+a month of it is about time enough seriously to injure or perhaps to kill him. About sunset everybody is most glad to escape
+from the impure air of the town and the crowded narrow streets, to inhale the fresh breeze from the bay on the Calyada, which
+is the most frequented drive.
+
+</p>
+<p>Formerly all the ladies turned out to drive without bonnets or coverings of any sort on the head, but bowled along, seated
+in open carriages, in about the same style of evening dress they would appear in at a tertulia or the theatre, or, in fact,
+at a ball-room. They were in the habit of spreading a sort of gum, which washed easily off, over the hair after it had been
+dressed, in order to keep out the dust, &amp;c.; but within the last <a id="d0e698"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e698">82</a>]</span>two years several bonnets have made their appearance in the carriages at the drive, and I fear their general use will supersede
+the former fashion, which from its simplicity allowed their most striking beauties of eyes, hair, &amp;c., to be seen in a most
+charming manner.
+
+</p>
+<p>Many of the Creole girls have very handsome countenances, and there are not a few who would be remarked upon as fine women
+by the side of any European beauty: but they are generally seen to most advantage in the evening, as their chief attraction
+does not consist in freshness of complexion so much as in fine features, which are often full of character and lighted up
+by eyes as brilliant as they are soft. Their figures are good, and their feet and ankles quite unexceptionable, being generally
+very much more neatly turned than those of my handsomest countrywomen.
+
+</p>
+<p>As dress is a study which has a good deal of their attention, they appear to understand it pretty well, but show a marked
+fondness for gay colours, as no doubt their pale complexions require their aid more than when ruddy health is upon their cheeks.
+In the forenoon the skin of a Creole or Spanish beauty appears to be rather too pale to please the general taste; and sometimes
+<a id="d0e704"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e704">83</a>]</span>their colour degenerates into sallowness, which I fancy may proceed from their fondness for chocolate, that being very largely
+consumed by all of them. This, and the want of exercise, communicated a somewhat bilious look to their appearance.
+
+</p>
+<p>Many ladies, especially those from the northern provinces of Spain, have sometimes the beautiful white skins and the ruddy
+freshness of complexion so much admired in my countrywomen; but, unfortunately, that colour is not very lasting, as the first
+season they pass in the Philippines is generally sufficient to blanch their bloom, but it is very often succeeded by a soft
+and delicate-looking paleness, which is perhaps not a whit less dangerous to amatory bachelors than the more brilliant colours
+which preceded it.
+
+</p>
+<p>Although lively and talkative enough, Spanish women seldom shine in conversation, which perhaps is more owing to the narrow
+and defective education they too often have in youth than to any natural want of the quickness and tact to talk well.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their manners are peculiarly soft and pleasing, and their lively ingenuousness is extremely seductive. <a id="d0e712"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e712">84</a>]</span>Their accomplished management of the fan has made it peculiarly their own weapon, and it has been converted into an important
+auxiliary to their natural good looks, both in attack and defence. There are few things more striking to a stranger than to
+see the ladies use it at the casino, when a number of them are together, and while there is no want of men to admire the graceful
+movement of the hand. Mere children are constantly seen using it. It is a ludicrous thing to watch one of these little creatures
+going through a set of flirting motions with a fan, should you look at her, copying no doubt the motions or play with it from
+those of some grown-up sister or gay mamma.
+
+</p>
+<p>Foreign ladies seldom or never attain the same degree of dexterity and ease in the use of their fans, the climate they were
+born in not requiring that it should be placed in their hands at an early age.
+
+</p>
+<p>The dress of Spanish ladies is becoming every day more like the French modes, although some elderly people still continue
+to use the country dress, which, from its coolness, is much more comfortable than the European habit; but it is <a id="d0e718"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e718">85</a>]</span>rapidly going out, and young Spanish ladies never appear to wear it, as formerly they frequently did, within doors and in
+the country.
+
+</p>
+<p>The mantilla is very rarely seen, except perhaps in the morning, when some fair penitent goes or returns from one of the churches,
+all of which are thrown open at a very early hour in the morning, at or before daylight, to give the people an opportunity
+of going there unostentatiously and unnoticed, to say their prayers and get home again before any one, but those on an errand
+similar to their own, is likely to meet them in the streets.
+
+</p>
+<p>Nearly all the women, after reaching thirty years of age, get stout or fall off in flesh and become very thin, for there apparently
+is very little medium between the two degrees, as nearly all the old women one sees are either very fat or very thin. Of the
+two sorts the fat retain their good looks the longest; for after attaining a certain age, the thin women are seldom anything
+but atrociously ugly, probably caused by the climate more than anything else, as those Europeans who enjoy good health at
+Manilla appear to become stout in that climate, while those who <a id="d0e724"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e724">86</a>]</span>get thin seldom appear to be well, and are unable to stand a lengthened residence there.
+
+</p>
+<p>In youth, however, their natural elasticity of character prevents delicate girls getting sick, if moderate care be taken of
+them, and they are generally rather more slender figures than English girls, until reaching about twenty-five, when they begin
+to get fat or to become thin; at that age they look very matronly.
+
+</p>
+<p><i>Apropos des dames.</i> Even in these degenerate days, Spanish blood is as hot and Castilian gentlemen are as gallant as any of those of former times.
+Not long ago the following circumstance happened at the casino:&#8212;Don Camilo de T&#8212;&#8212;, a natural son of the late King of Spain,
+after dancing with a female acquaintance, rejoined a group of acquaintances, who were standing together in a knot, criticising
+the appearance of their several fair friends, when just as he joined them some one happened to say to another that the lady
+he had just been dancing with appeared to have padded her bosom. On hearing this, Don Camilo took the speaker rather by surprise,
+by calling out &#8220;It is a lie,&#8221; in a tone loud enough to be heard by all near him, and by saying <a id="d0e732"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e732">87</a>]</span>that as he had just been dancing with that lady, he knew that it was not so, and must resent the remark as a personal affront.
+A duel took place in consequence, in which the gallant was wounded in the sword arm, which, by letting out a little of his
+hot blood, may probably prevent a recurrence of such extreme devotion to his fair acquaintances.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e734"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e734">88</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+<p>As a body, such Spanish gentlemen as I have been acquainted with, appeared to be quite as remarkable for good breeding as
+they usually have the credit of being. They generally have a great appearance of candour or frankness of manner, which, although
+it is for the most part more studied than natural, is prepossessing, and makes them pleasant companions.
+
+</p>
+<p>Here, however, I am afraid my praise must stop, because I have seen among a great number of them a good deal of dissimulation,
+or, to speak more plainly, of bad faith,&#8212;with regard to which their modes of thinking are very different from those prevailing
+at home; and among their mercantile people especially, they often appear to <a id="d0e742"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e742">89</a>]</span>imitate, or unconsciously to act upon a smart Yankee trader&#8217;s modes of getting the best of a bargain, being very frequently
+rather too unscrupulous in their representations, when it appears to them that it is for their interest to be so.
+
+</p>
+<p>To give an idea of their opinions about the subject of buying and selling, I will tell the reader a story. A lad, the son
+of a high government officer, sold an unsound horse to a companion as a sound one, which, on being discovered by the purchaser,
+of course made him very indignant, and he demanded his money back, complaining at the same time to the boy&#8217;s father, who passes
+for a person of high character and good sense, about the scurvy trick his son had played him. &#8220;Well,&#8221; said this respectable
+old gentleman, &#8220;I am glad to see that the lad is so sharp; for, if he could get the better of you so well, he will make a
+capital merchant, and be able to cheat the Chinamen!&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>Without exaggeration this is a good deal the system on which the Spaniards carry on business. They always appear to be trying
+to take advantage of a purchaser, and if successful have very complaisant consciences; but should they themselves be taken
+in, or have the worst of a bargain, their virtuous horror and indignation on discovering it <a id="d0e748"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e748">90</a>]</span>know no bounds. There is very little, or almost none, of that mutual confidence existing between them which exists between
+British merchants, and which is so necessary in large transactions, or in carrying on an extensive business, as they do.
+
+</p>
+<p>The large number of government <i>empleados</i> residing at Manilla makes an important addition to the society of the place, as, from being idle men to a great extent, they
+seek how to amuse and be amused, and are cultivators of the society of the English, whose dinner tables are probably the chief
+causes of the intercourse which exists between them.
+
+</p>
+<p>The entire white population in Manilla amounts to about 5,000, a large proportion of them being officers, sergeants, and corporals
+of the troops stationed either within the town, or in the immediate vicinity.
+
+</p>
+<p>All the officers are not, however, persons of European descent, as occasionally a black may be seen in an officer&#8217;s uniform,
+and very frequently is to be found wearing a sergeant&#8217;s or corporal&#8217;s coat. But the natives promoted to the rank of commissioned
+officers are not many, and on the whole it is probably better for the army that few of them should be so, as were it a common
+occurrence, <a id="d0e759"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e759">91</a>]</span>or were they allowed to rise to high rank, or to occupy important places, beyond a doubt the <i>morale</i> of the troops would suffer; for when those men do rise from the ranks, they are not considered on an equality by their European
+brother officers, nor in fact do they consider themselves to be so, and have little or no intercourse with them, beyond the
+routine of their military duties.
+
+</p>
+<p>The appearance of the troops is good on the whole; but they appeared to me to be wanting in precision of movement, being by
+no means equal or similar to some of our best Sepoy soldiers. It is clear that frequently they have not been precisely drilled
+into all their attempted evolutions. The men, as individuals, are well and powerfully formed, although they are rather deficient
+in stature and soldierly appearance; they are naturally bold, and when lately tried against the Sooloos, evinced no want of
+resolution to follow, when their officers would lead them on. I have seen several of them suffer death with an admirable and
+even heroic composure, such as any man might envy when his last hour comes. It is not an unfrequent thing to see soldiers
+shot at Manilla for some misdemeanours, <a id="d0e766"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e766">92</a>]</span>and I have not heard of one of them dying a poltroon; certainly, all those I have ever seen suffer, met their doom with the
+utmost calmness.
+
+</p>
+<p>The cavalry force, for the purposes of actual conflict, is about the most inefficient branch of the military establishment,
+being mounted on the ponies of the country, which stand on an average about twelve hands. But as irregulars they might be
+of some use. It always appeared to me that a single well-mounted squadron of our heavy dragoons could, without any difficulty,
+ride down the entire regiment. The Government is aware of the inactive state of the horses, their attention having been called
+thereto by my friend Captain de la O&#8212;&#8212;, an officer of the force, who, in conjunction with the colonel of the regiment, has
+for some time past been occupied in investigations, and in preparing estimates of the probable expense of an attempt to improve
+the breed of horses by crossing them with Arab stallions, which it has for some time been in contemplation to send for to
+cover the country mares.
+
+</p>
+<p>It would probably be necessary for Government, in order to accomplish this successfully, to adopt a plan similar to that followed
+at the East India Company&#8217;s breeding stables in Bengal, and should <a id="d0e772"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e772">93</a>]</span>the project be followed out and properly managed, there can be no doubt but that it will be of the most essential importance
+to the government service, and a boon to the country.
+
+</p>
+<p>The horses of the Philippines are small, but for their inches uncommonly powerful, and sometimes fast. They do not appear
+to have any distinguishing peculiarity, except perhaps that the head of most of them is rather too large, and very rarely
+indeed is that feature quite perfect in any of the horses one meets with. At Manilla, and for a considerable distance round
+it, no mares are allowed to be used, which secures a higher and better looking horse in the neighbourhood of the capital than
+is met with in the interior of the country; none of them are geldings, and of course they are stronger and more playful in
+consequence.
+
+</p>
+<p>But to return to the service and the officers of it whom one meets in society. They are not fond of being sent to the colony,
+and although with about double the amount of pay they would receive at home, most of them would infinitely prefer remaining
+in Spain.
+
+</p>
+<p>After a term of service abroad they get a step in rank, which appears to be the main attraction <a id="d0e780"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e780">94</a>]</span>to those who come to Manilla. Many of them are not very well educated men, and are therefore rather inferior to my countrymen
+of the same profession in that respect.
+
+</p>
+<p>A considerable proportion of them, perhaps an equal ratio to those of our army, are gentlemen, or persons of good birth and
+family connections. They are in general, however, poor, or at all events not over burdened with the good things of this life,
+and like soldiers of all nations and times, some of them have a certain notoriety for outrunning the constable, or for spending
+all that they can, which is generally merely their pay. Soon after reaching Manilla, I was accidentally thrown a good deal
+into their society, from chancing to meet with Don Francisco Caro, a pleasant and lively young lieutenant, at the house of
+my Spanish teacher, where he was as eager to learn English as I was to be able to speak good Spanish. We became intimate,
+and agreed to visit each other, he to talk in English to me, and I to him in Spanish,&#8212;a practice which very soon enabled us
+to pick up the languages, and saved a world of trouble in getting up tasks for a teacher, whom we were soon able to do without.
+The fact of my going frequently to his house, <a id="d0e784"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e784">95</a>]</span>and taking part in the conversation of himself and the many friends with whom he made me acquainted, gave me a considerable
+facility in talking the language, from having gained a knowledge of it in this way in place of from a pedantic teacher, whose
+purisms were quite thrown away on one whose wish it was to speak it fluently, although it might be at some sacrifice of elegance.
+
+</p>
+<p>Here let me record my regret at the manner in which this old companion and friend met his untimely fate, which is not the
+less regretted because it proceeded from his own strong sense of duty and habitual gallantry of spirit&#8212;for this poor fellow
+was a true Spaniard in all his best qualities. Having been ordered into the provinces with a detachment on the very disagreeable
+service of hunting up a band of <i>tulisanes</i>, or robbers, the necessary exposure to the sun on such an expedition operated so severely on his constitution as to produce
+a very high fever; yet even in this state he would not succumb to it, but persisted in marching for several days at the head
+of his men, although they, on perceiving his condition, had several times endeavoured to persuade him to make use of a litter
+which they had framed for the <a id="d0e791"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e791">96</a>]</span>purpose, and wished to carry him in. But he would not remain in it even when they almost forced him to use it, and would take
+no repose until after having accomplished his duty. In this he was successful, as he surprised and destroyed the robber band,&#8212;but
+the effort cost him his life, for he died solely from the effects of the unnatural exertion which he had undergone while the
+fever was raging within him.
+
+</p>
+<p>Your many amiable and good qualities yet live, Francisco, in the fond memories of former friends, although you are no longer
+among them; and your heroic death, while it chastens grief, has added another memento, and a laurel leaf to the wreath your
+brave Castilian ancestors left behind them, bequeathed to the care of one who knew so well how to value and protect it, and
+to add to its honour.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e795"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e795">97</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+<p>The Church is under the regulation of an Archbishop and four Bishops. The present Archbishop of Manilla, whose reputation
+for piety and good feeling towards all men stands very high, is an old soldier, who, after serving his king when a young man
+as lieutenant of cavalry for several years, changed his master, and assuming the habit of a priest, devoted himself to religion
+for the remainder of his life.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are about 500 parochial curacies throughout the islands under him in the four bishoprics, 167 of the curacies being
+situated in his own see; and several literary, charitable, and pious institutions at Manilla look up to him as their patron
+and head; among others may be mentioned the <a id="d0e803"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e803">98</a>]</span>University of Santo Tomas, having chairs for students of Latin, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, canon law, theology,
+&amp;c.
+
+</p>
+<p>As a body, the ministers of religion in the Philippines are not apparently so well educated a class as those of Great Britain,
+even in the education of the schools, and are possessed of less general information, of course, from the want of any periodical
+literature equal to that which we have, from whose sources much of the information, and some of the apparent learning of my
+countrymen are derived, at little cost of time or expense.
+
+</p>
+<p>However, many of the Spanish <i>padres</i> are men of general and varied attainments, such as would adorn any church or station in life; but the greater number of them
+can scarcely claim so much, as, although they are all respectably educated, their attention for many years of their life has
+been directed chiefly to the prosecution of such studies as would influence their advancement in the Church, such as the canon
+law, church history, theology, &amp;c., on a knowledge of which their consideration for accomplishments among themselves principally
+depends, I believe.
+
+</p>
+<p>Most of the priests I have been in contact with, <a id="d0e814"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e814">99</a>]</span>appeared to be thoroughly convinced of, and faithful to their religion in its purity; and as a body, appear to be about as
+sincere and pious a class as clergymen at home.
+
+</p>
+<p>Occasionally, however, you meet with startling exceptions to this rule, which astonish any one accustomed to see the high
+regard to outward decency observed by the same cloth at home; for instance, it would be considered most reprehensible at home,
+for any clergyman to keep a mistress; and if the fact became known, would occasion his instant dismissal from his cure, and
+his expulsion from the Church.
+
+</p>
+<p>This is not so, however, in the Philippines, and may be seen at any time, especially among the Mestizo and native Indian priests,
+whose education is worse, and their ideas of religion much more vague, incorrect, and superstitious than those of the Spaniards;
+and sometimes, in the country parishes, an Indian or Mestizo <i>padre</i> is found openly living in the <i>convento</i> or parsonage-house with his mistress and natural children. But frequently, in cases where a sense of decency prevents them
+doing this openly, one occasionally meets in their houses young half-caste children, who pass for the family of some brother
+or sister, <a id="d0e826"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e826">100</a>]</span>although these had never any existence, and there is in reality little or no doubt as to the priest himself being their father.
+
+</p>
+<p>This state of things, however, is not the general state of the Church, although it may but too frequently be met with; and
+is not considered nearly so reprehensible as it would be, were they at liberty to marry, as Protestant clergymen are. In many
+cases its existence can scarcely fail to be known to their bishops, by whom however it appears to be winked at; and is not
+considered by the laity as being particularly scandalous, their notions on the subject being somewhat indefinite.
+
+</p>
+<p>Within a very short distance of Manilla, I have been in a convento where the priest, his mistress, and family all lived together,
+the padre being a Mestizo. On the village feast-day, one of the party with whom I was in the country, hired some jugglers
+who had come down from Bengal to act their wonderful tricks in the theatre at Manilla, and sent them out to Mariquina on the
+feast-day, there to amuse the people, and to please the padre, as he knew it would do, he being an old acquaintance of his.
+Accordingly, in the afternoon they exhibited to an immense <a id="d0e832"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e832">101</a>]</span>crowd of natives, just before the open church-door. A platform had been quickly erected for their accommodation, from which
+they were exhibiting their tricks to the intense astonishment of the Indians, most of whom had never seen anything of the
+sort before; and in the evening, the padre having asked leave for the jugglers to come to the convento, gave a great party
+to all the Spaniards, or white men, who were then in the pueblo, in order to watch their tricks more closely than could be
+done at a public exhibition.
+
+</p>
+<p>Several Spanish ladies were present, and among them, quite as a matter of course, was the mistress of the priest. One or two
+of the ladies present were wives of high officials at Manilla, and all of them were persons of the best character and standing,
+yet they did not appear in the least discomposed by her presence, although none of them paid her any attention, or noticed
+her as the lady of the house; in fact, she appeared to be regarded by them as a sort of privileged housekeeper more than in
+any other light, although they were perfectly aware of the irregularity of her life. This may give some idea of their modes
+of thinking of such affairs, for all of them present perfectly understood the relation in which the <a id="d0e836"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e836">102</a>]</span>spiritual adviser of so large a population as that of Mariquina stood to her.
+
+</p>
+<p>Both the priest and she were elderly people, and their intercourse has, I understood, been of long standing; and during the
+course of it several children have been born. But the most wonderful thing appears to be, how such a man could direct the
+worship of his parishioners, or lay before them the scripture tenets of his and their faith, while openly violating it before
+their eyes. But the same thing has taken place in Europe not unfrequently, and quite as openly, without exciting excessive
+scandal in many places.
+
+</p>
+<p>There is an immense deal more of immorality among the clergy of all denominations and countries than would be believed. Alas,
+for human nature!
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e842"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e842">103</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+<p>The site of Manilla is low-lying and level, and as the country in the vicinity of the capital is of the same nature, being
+covered by far stretching paddy fields, it presents few picturesque attractions, in order to enjoy which, and the verdure,
+freshness, and variety of an undulating landscape, excursions are frequently made to various places at some short distance
+from the town, and during some period of each year, most of the foreign merchants have latterly got into the plan of renting
+houses within driving distance, and of spending most of the dry season in them, going and returning frequently, or generally
+daily, to their counting-houses, so long as the roads are passable. <a id="d0e848"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e848">104</a>]</span>The village of Mariquina, about seven miles from Manilla, is the most favourite place of resort, although the road to it is
+very bad, but it presents the attractions of very good pure air and water, and a bright landscape. Those persons who are not
+fond of horse exercise, make use of American light spider-carriages, drawn by a pair of ponies, as that sort of vehicle is
+found to be the only conveyance capable of standing the ruts and jolting over these country paths, which would to a certainty
+break the springs of any other description of carriage I have ever seen.
+
+</p>
+<p>Owing to their great lightness and strength, these spider-carriages are favourite conveyances here, and these qualities render
+them by much the most suitable description for the country.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the neighbourhood of Mariquina, the country is in many respects picturesque and fine; a more lovely <i>coup d&#8217;&#339;il</i> is seldom seen, than that which may be witnessed from the road at the top of the hill just before beginning the descent leading
+past the old Jesuit Convent, a partly ruinous building, now known by the name of the Hacienda; from that point, looking down
+on the valleys which burst on the view at once, especially at the season when they are waving with the ripe <a id="d0e857"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e857">105</a>]</span>and yellow grain, or clothed in a beautiful coat of green,&#8212;on the fine river, peacefully winding through them, on the splendid
+old trees covered with green and luxuriant foliage, which are interspersed and dot the scene, across to the distant hills,
+clothed in all the glories of a tropical sunset or sunrise, and varied by the many tints of light and shade of brilliant colours,
+it often is a sight truly worthy of being witnessed for its glowing beauty.
+
+</p>
+<p>At Mariquina, there is a well, the water of which has the reputation of curing many sorts of disease, more especially those
+of the skin, and many are the sufferers who visit it in the hope that bathing in the trough into which the spring drops, may
+cure their ailments. The water is slightly tepid and not disagreeable to drink, being tasteless, and is recommended for diseases
+of the kidneys and stomach, by the Manilla doctors.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some miles beyond Mariquina, there is a most curious cave, of great extent, at the village of San Mateo, which is well worthy
+of a visit by the curious. Shortly after entering it, the height of the cavern rises to about fifty feet, although it varies
+continually,&#8212;so much so, that at some <a id="d0e863"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e863">106</a>]</span>places there is scarcely height enough for a man to sit upright. The formations within are of a singular character, resembling
+sometimes immense icicles pendant from the roof to within a few feet of the floor, or in some places rising from the ground
+like ever-growing pyramids, as from the dropping water they are continually increasing. These pillars of stalactite are extremely
+hard and difficult to splinter, even after repeated blows with a hammer, some of them being beautifully milk white, while
+others appear rather discoloured from some cause. Several of the columns hanging from the roof may measure about a yard or
+more in circumference, their forms being sometimes most curious and fantastic, one stalk expanding as it descended, looked
+not unlike a gigantic leaf springing from its slender arm.
+
+</p>
+<p>From the main cave there are several openings diverging and leading to chambers similar to the main room, by some openings
+at the sides of which the dropping water is drained off.
+
+</p>
+<p>The temperature within the cavern was 77&deg;, and without 86&deg;, being a very considerable change, even in the cool of the evening,
+on coming out of it, just after sunset. I am afraid <a id="d0e869"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e869">107</a>]</span>to give an estimate as to the extent of this immense cave, it requires, however, five or six hours to partially see its curiosities,
+and of course would take far more time to investigate it properly. The only living creatures met within it, appear to be bats,
+which are not very numerous. Should a sportsman visit the place for several days, his gun will generally procure him some
+venison and wild pig to feast upon, or to present to the village priest, or to forward to his Mariquina or Manilla acquaintances.
+At Boroboso, also, some distance from Mariquina, he is sure of finding similar game, and in greater quantity than at San Mateo,
+where it is too much poached.
+
+</p>
+<p>The great want he will experience is that of trained dogs, those used by the Indians being nearly useless, as after alarming
+the game by their noise, they can&#8217;t hunt it with any thing like spirit. Some few Kangaroo dogs, however, brought from Sydney,
+have been eagerly purchased by the Indian sportsmen, and are said to be an immense improvement on those of the country, although
+I have never seen their performances in the field; from their speed and <a id="d0e873"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e873">108</a>]</span>strength, however, they appear more than a match for the deer of the islands, which are small-sized and greatly inferior in
+strength to those of the Highlands of Scotland.
+
+</p>
+<p>The race of dogs formerly known as Manilla bloodhounds has <a id="d0e877"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: becomes">become</span> quite extinct, although some descendants of a half-bred progeny still remain, being a cross between them and the street curs.
+Although they possess some of the fierce and savage qualities of the old hound, it is in a much inferior degree to that of
+the genuine breed, whose size and appearance was very much finer than any of the mongrels now to be seen.
+
+</p>
+<p>The old breed were so fierce as to be absolutely unsafe when at liberty, and always required to be chained up. Several years
+ago two fine dogs of the old breed were procured with considerable trouble, and at some expense sent to England, to a gentleman
+fond of dogs.
+
+</p>
+<p>He gave orders to keep them at all times on the chain, during which they behaved so well, that a groom, going out to air a
+horse one morning, unloosed the chain of one of them, and took him along with him.
+
+</p>
+<p>The dog remained quiet enough till happening <a id="d0e886"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e886">109</a>]</span>to meet another man, also airing a pair of skittish horses,&#8212;the capering of the horses, or something else, roused the brute&#8217;s
+savage nature, and he sprang on one of them like a tiger, fastening on his flank, and sucking his blood so greedily that all
+the two men could do did not make the savage beast quit his hold, till gorged with the blood of the victim.
+
+</p>
+<p>The horse was spoiled for ever, or, I believe, died from the hemorrhage, and as he chanced to be a valuable one, which, of
+course, the owner of the dog had to pay for, he was so disgusted at having to do so, that he made both of them be shot at
+once, in order to prevent any possibility of the recurrence of such an accident.
+
+</p>
+<p>The only other dog at Manilla besides the worthless street cur, is a sort of ladies&#8217; poodle, with long and silky white hairs;
+their fine coats only making them favorites, as they are good for nothing else than women&#8217;s pets.
+
+</p>
+<p>The smaller these are, when full grown, the more they are esteemed; their white hair should be entirely free from any spots
+of black or brown, these being generally the mark of a mongrel breed.
+<a id="d0e894"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e894">110</a>]</span></p>
+<p>They are so delicate, that few of them can stand a sea-voyage, and all those I have ever sent away from Manilla, to any distance,
+have died before reaching their destination. A well-bred dog of this breed of middling size, is about as large as a full grown
+tom-cat, or a little bigger.
+
+</p>
+<p>It has always appeared to me a most curious and inexplicable fact, that when good dogs are sent out from home to a hot climate
+such as this, they invariably are found to deteriorate to an uncommon extent, the heat causing them to lose their spirit,
+and also their scent. But, in fact, the animal in perfection, or, as he has been truly called at home, &#8220;the most intelligent
+of beasts, and the companion of man,&#8221; is only found in some places of Europe to be such.
+
+</p>
+<p>In all tropical countries he is no longer so, becoming, even should a good breed be introduced there from Europe, very much
+inferior in a few generations in all respects to what we have him in Great Britain, where they appear to be found in the greatest
+perfection.
+
+</p>
+<p>In hot climates the dog has not the same strength or swiftness, nor is he of equal courage, <a id="d0e903"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e903">111</a>]</span>sincerity, and gentleness of character which peculiarly distinguish him from all other animals at home. Among orientals he
+is no longer treated in the same manner as he is in Europe, nor in fact does his character, as it exists among them, deserve
+equal kindness to that usually shown this faithful animal in Britain; but in Asia he is driven from their households by the
+Mohammedans and Hindoos alike, being regarded by them all as useless, and a pest.
+
+</p>
+<p>In China, he is fattened for the table, and the flesh of dogs is as much liked by them as mutton is by us, being exposed for
+sale by their butchers and in their cook-shops.
+
+</p>
+<p>At Canton, I have seen the hind quarters of dogs hanging up in the most prominent parts of their shops exposed for sale.
+
+</p>
+<p>They are considered in China as a most dainty food, and are consumed by both the rich and the poor.
+
+</p>
+<p>The breeds common in that country are apparently peculiar to itself, and they are apparently objects of more attention to
+their owners than elsewhere in Asia, the Celestials perhaps having an eye to their tender haunches, which bad treatment <a id="d0e913"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e913">112</a>]</span>would toughen and spoil. They do not appear to be of greater sagacity than the other tropical breeds, although more bulky
+and stronger-looking than most of the other sorts I have seen.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e915"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e915">113</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+<p>All strangers coming to Manilla should endeavour to make an excursion to the great inland lake, or Laguna de Bay, as it is
+likely well to repay the inconvenience one has to stand in such an excursion from exposure to the sun, &amp;c. The lake is of
+very considerable extent, measuring, I think, about twenty-eight miles at its greatest length, by about twenty-two at its
+extreme breadth; it is formed by an amphitheatre of mountains, the various streams from which feed it; and its opening or
+outlet forms the origin of the river Pasig, which, bathing the walls of the fortress of Santiago and the capital of the Philippines,
+flows into the arm of the sea called Manilla Bay.
+<a id="d0e921"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e921">114</a>]</span></p>
+<p>About Christmastide there are many visitors to the lake, as from the then cooler season the necessary exposure to the heat
+of a midday sun in a slightly-covered boat is comparatively innocuous, and much less disagreeable than it would prove at any
+other time of the year.
+
+</p>
+<p>Several foreigners are in the habit of making an annual excursion there from Manilla to spend these holidays, during which
+there is no other amusement in town than church-going and procession-staring.
+
+</p>
+<p>Having made arrangements to visit the lake either by starting from Manilla in a large Pasig banca or prow, which although
+more tedious than driving to the village of Guadaloupe, near Pasig, and then taking the water, is, I think, the better plan
+of the two, as the river scenery is well worth seeing, and there are no inconveniences such as are inseparable from that of
+changing conveyances at Guadaloupe, &amp;c. When I started, my companion, who luckily happened to be an experienced man in such
+affairs, having at different times of his life roamed through the backwoods of Canada, and over the plains of Australia, recommended
+the water conveyance for the whole distance, as we were not pushed for time; and the excursion <a id="d0e928"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e928">115</a>]</span>turned out to be one of the pleasantest I have ever been engaged in, from the satisfactory nature of his arrangements and
+his own hilarity and good-natured usefulness; for of course he had not knocked about so much without acquiring some <i>savoir faire</i>, so desirable in a companion during such an excursion.
+
+</p>
+<p>On Christmas eve we went together to a large dancing party or ball, given by an old and rich Mestizo, at whose house we kept
+up dancing and enjoying ourselves till about midnight; shortly before which all the men started, in company with the ladies,
+to the parish church of San Sebastian, there to hear a midnight mass, and welcome in the sacred anniversary by saying our
+prayers. The spectacle was rather a fine one; and on looking at the devout up-turned features of my fair companion, when kneeling
+at her devotions, I could scarcely believe that she was the good-natured, lively Mestiza girl I had been flirting with not
+five minutes before; but after half an hour&#8217;s worship, which, to do them justice, was apparently of the most sincere and heartfelt
+kind, the fair penitents returned to the supper room with a number of the heretics, and afterwards, notwithstanding <a id="d0e935"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e935">116</a>]</span>all their prayers, danced with us, being quite as lively and as full of flirting as before their visit to church. We stopped
+till about three o&#8217;clock in the morning, when, being thoroughly tired of the heated rooms, my companion and I resolved to
+enter the boat which had been engaged for the occasion, and in which clothes, provender, &amp;c., had previously been embarked,
+and left under charge of a servant, Fernando, at a landing-place from the river, near the house where we had been invited
+to pass the evening. Taking the precaution to eat a hearty supper, to keep out the night air, on arriving at the boat, and
+wrapping ourselves up in our blankets, we both very speedily began to enjoy the rest necessary for next day&#8217;s exertions; and
+having previously secured our crew of five picked men to pull, we were rapidly approaching the Laguna when we awoke, and daylight
+had just rested on their oars next morning; after breakfast, and a bath in the cool and delicious water of the river above
+Pasig, we quickly passed by the pateros or villages for breeding ducks, situated among the swamps at the outlets of the lake,
+and the beginning of the river.
+<a id="d0e937"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e937">117</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Several of these duck villages can scarcely be said to be situated on <i>terra firma</i>, as many of the <i>nipa</i> or attap-houses are founded on the supporting trunks of trees growing out of the sedgy swamp. The houses have a small lower
+platform of bamboo on two sides, for a cooking-place and for landing from a boat, below and around being trees or bamboos
+growing out of the water. Many of these clumps of bamboo, some of which attain a great height, occasionally, perhaps, as much
+as 150 feet, are from their numbers a peculiar feature in the landscape of the Philippines, and form some of the most beautiful
+objects of luxuriant vegetation that can be imagined for a landscape. They are found growing wild, very grand and fresh-looking
+in all parts of the country, and are of many varieties, some of which any one may be acquainted with who takes the trouble
+to consult the good old Padre Blanco&#8217;s book on the <i>flora de Filipi&ntilde;as</i>.
+
+</p>
+<p>At the pateros, near the entrance to the Laguna, the people breed large flocks of ducks to supply the Manilla market, to the
+exclusion of all other employment except, perhaps, catching and drying enough fish to season their rice, which <a id="d0e951"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e951">118</a>]</span>most of them purchase, and very few of them grow. These Indians, although few in number, are to a considerable extent isolated
+from the people of the country, from what cause I know not, but they very rarely associate or intermarry except with each
+other. The ducks they breed for the market are well trained, being perfectly obedient to the call of their different masters,
+and on hearing his signal come quickly sailing back, should they have gone too far away. They get fat on the fish and tender
+sedgy grass, and when placed on the dinner-table are very good eating.
+
+</p>
+<p>After entering the lake, which is studded with wooded islets, the largest of which is named Talim, the gun is called into
+requisition, as the immense flocks of wild duck breeding here afford a constant sport, and the advantages of their acquisition
+are not likely to be overlooked either by the <i>gourmand</i> or the hungry tourist. They are, however, rather wild, and the best mode of shooting them appears to be to dress in a blue
+cotton shirt and trousers like an Indian, and paddle off as near the flock as they will permit; and then for a chance among
+them. If there is more than one person in the grass-boat, which is <a id="d0e958"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e958">119</a>]</span>a very small and unhooded banca, which the natives use for carrying small quantities of grass for horses, &amp;c., the ducks are
+apt to take the alarm, although I have sometimes been successful in getting near them with an Indian paddling the boat.
+
+</p>
+<p>Besides the ducks there are several other kinds of wild fowl, and on coasting round the shores of Talim, an alligator basking
+in the sun, frequently offers a mark for a ball, which, however, seldom proves fatal. I struck one on the scales without producing
+any apparent damage, the distance being probably about thirty yards, and he merely shook himself a little and tumbled into
+the water from off the rock he had been sleeping on, without seeming much startled or to be in the least wounded. They are
+said to reach an immense age, and the most incredible stories are told, and apparently believed, by the natives themselves
+of their traditional longevity.
+
+</p>
+<p>On Talim some deer and pigs may now and then be seen, although it is too much frequented and disturbed to be at all a sure
+cover for them; my companion shot a very beautiful variety of the hawk on the island. After enjoying the <a id="d0e964"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e964">120</a>]</span>hospitality of M. Vidie, an old French planter at Jalajala, we set off in the direction of Tanay, whence we had heard good
+reports of the game.
+
+</p>
+<p>During a strong monsoon there is sometimes a heavy swell on the water of the Laguna, and occasionally boats are swamped or
+upset, so that frequently when we used to go out in our Pasig banca it was against the will of our boatmen; but like true
+and stubborn Britons, we always insisted upon having our own way, although the boatmen, who certainly knew most about it,
+used to predict that we should all be swamped to a certainty, but a well-trimmed and moderately well-handled boat can go through
+any sea, and it is generally from want of care that accidents occur. On one occasion in Manilla Bay, I have been swamped solely
+from that cause, and the fright of a companion, whose alarm induced the catastrophe by diverting the men&#8217;s attention. However,
+as an American whaler was luckily near and saw our situation, they lowered a whale-boat and picked us up.
+
+</p>
+<p>At the lake, in stormy weather, we used to go out with two men steering the boat, each with a <a id="d0e970"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e970">121</a>]</span>powerful paddle, and the remainder of the crew managing the sail. Sometimes we got half full of water, which it was the duty
+of the boy Fernando to bale out, but when he got seasick and tired, we both set to to keep her free. On one occasion of the
+sort, my chum Adam, taking pity on the forlorn condition of the puking Fernando, recommended to him frequent sips from a bottle
+of brandy, to keep away the retching; the hint was not thrown away, and the lad lay down in the bottom of the boat, looking
+as miserable as possible, and quite sick, utterly forgetful or unconscious of the soiled condition of the splendid pi&ntilde;a shirt
+which he wore at the time; although in his hours of ease it commonly attracted a large proportion of his regard and self-complacency.
+After many sips, apparently, the brandy produced the desired effect, as my follower ceased to project his mouth, every now
+and then, over the side of the banca, but had sunk into a sound sleep, caused, we imagined, by the exhaustion and lassitude
+subsequent to sea-sickness; and so he remained till our approaching Tanay, when the sail was lowered, and he roused up and
+left to bring our luggage up to the Casa Real, or townhouse, <a id="d0e972"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e972">122</a>]</span>where there is always a chamber and bedstead for strangers. For that place we started, leaving him to follow.
+
+</p>
+<p>After waiting some time impatiently, we were rather surprised to see two of the boatmen marching up with Fernando, who gave
+tokens of extreme lassitude and unsteadiness of gait, showing at times, when he raised his drooping head, an attempt to shake
+off his conductors, who were on these little manifestations reinforced by two of their companions, who followed them, bearing
+our portmanteaus; and at length the procession would move on again. After some difficulty they got him into the Casa Real,
+where one of the men, spreading a mat upon the floor, laid him down on it, staring wildly about him. After contemplating him
+for a few seconds, he turned to me, and, inverting the mouth of an empty bottle, to prove satisfactorily that it was empty
+of the <i>vieux cognac</i>, which was marked on the label, laid it down beside him, saying, &#8220;Es muy boracho, Senor, pero es valiente.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>And so resulted the cure of sea-sickness by brandy, of which the lad had taken such a dose as to shake him severely, although
+a strong young <a id="d0e984"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e984">123</a>]</span>fellow, for several days after it; in fact, we both became afraid of him, and vowed never again to recommend the medicine,
+except in quantities less than a bottle at a time.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e986"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e986">124</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+<p>Adam W&#8212;&#8212; having on a former shooting expedition been at Tanay, had at the time made the acquaintance of some of the townspeople,
+who had shown him all the attentions in their power; so that soon after our arrival, having dressed and refreshed at the Casa
+Real, we sallied out together to call on several of his old acquaintances, hoping to obtain from some of them such information
+and assistance as would help us discovering the whereabouts of a good huntsman and guide, in order that we might avail ourselves
+of his local knowledge in selecting the best district of the neighbourhood for sport.
+
+</p>
+<p>On entering the house of the Fiel of Tobacco, we were most hospitably received and warmly <a id="d0e994"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e994">125</a>]</span>invited to take quarters there during our residence in Tanay; and as the offer was much too good to be refused, even had it
+been less warmly backed by the unequivocal demonstrations of welcome than those which they evinced, it was at once accepted,
+with not the less good-will because there was only the Casa Real to sleep in had we chosen to refuse it, which assuredly no
+one who had the fear of bugs, fleas, or musquitoes before his eyes would do, these animals being of the utmost size and activity
+in every one of the Casas Reales I have ever slept in.
+
+</p>
+<p>After some conversation with our host, who was rather a fine-looking Spanish Mestizo, as to our plans, &amp;c., he most good-naturedly
+set off to seek a huntsman whom he recommended as a guide, leaving us in the meantime to the society <a id="d0e998"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: ">of</span> his wife&#8212;a strapping native beauty, although somewhat swarthy, full of good nature and the gossip of the place. From her,
+Adam soon learned all about his former acquaintances, and among others of the Capitan Tomas, his buxom wife, and pretty daughter,
+who we were told was considered the beauty of the town.
+
+</p>
+<p>After their names had been mentioned with that addition, he got rather impatient all of a <a id="d0e1003"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1003">126</a>]</span>sudden for a stroll about the town; so we started together, after paying a visit to our portmanteaus and the still insensible
+Fernando, at the town-house, where my friend armed himself with a bottle of eau de Cologne, a box of which I found that he
+carried about with him for distribution among such native beauties as he was ambitious of standing well with, for they were
+sure to like this perfume, which his experience of the country taught him was seldom procurable in such out-of-the-way places,
+and to a dead certainty always procured him favour in the eyes of the unsophisticated fair, whom he taught how to use it.
+
+</p>
+<p>For this it was that he had hinted something about thieves and the state of Fernando, and proposed looking in to see if the
+portmanteaus were still safe at the Casa Real, so I resolved to be revenged for the double dealing of his proposal upon seeing
+the top of the Cologne bottle peeping out from his shooting-jacket pocket. I watched a chance, and snatched it away without
+being noticed, determined that the half-caste beauty whose praises he was so eloquent in during our promenade, should not
+have him to thank it for at all events.
+
+</p>
+<p>We reached the house, and were well received <a id="d0e1009"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1009">127</a>]</span>by the Capitan, who pressed us to stop with him, and when he found we were engaged, invited us to pass next day with him,
+which, as the beauty was looking her very best, there was great risk of our doing, in preference to prosecuting our pig-shooting
+scheme, as had been originally intended. Poor Adam was evidently smitten by her attractions. After talking with these good
+people for some time, I observed that his attention was engrossed in watching Rita&#8217;s movements, when, as the Capitan, his
+wife, and myself were all standing at an open window, looking at the flowers in his garden, and talking away, and their daughter,
+occupied in some household duty, was leaving the sala, Adam, who had been watching like a lynx for such an opportunity, seized
+it on the moment, and managed to slip away from us, and get out of the room after her, in the hopes of being able to snatch
+a kiss or something of the sort, and to present the scented water, which he had not missed from his pocket, although as he
+slipped away in all the agitation of pursuit, I saw first one hand and then the other slipped into the pockets of the coat
+where it should have been; but he was so much engaged <a id="d0e1011"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1011">128</a>]</span>in getting out of the room quickly and silently, that he did not miss it. Reaching the open door just as she had gone out,
+when about two paces beyond it, he popped his head over her shoulder unobserved, and stole a kiss; I heard the smack, then
+a rustle, and then a titter, during which Adam was searching his pockets for the missing bottle, which of course he did not
+find there; and when he said something or other about the kiss, he foolishly, in his search for it, told her that he had lost
+so very desirable a present; upon which, as he afterwards told me, the beauty looked saucy, and very plainly did not believe
+a word about it, but fancied he had invented the story to excuse the kiss, and pretended to get a little angry with the liberty
+taken with her blooming cheek; so she walked off, and left him quite at a loss to account for its disappearance.
+
+</p>
+<p>Before leaving, I took an opportunity of presenting the missing bottle at a time when the owner of it was not by, and fancied,
+from the blush which gave additional beauty to her cheek as I did so, that with the natural quickness of a woman and a beauty,
+she had read the stratagem played off on poor Adam; so she frankly offered <a id="d0e1015"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1015">129</a>]</span>me the same reward, by presenting her blooming lips to be kissed, even by so very recent an acquaintance.
+
+</p>
+<p>On making arrangements for a shooting party, it is quite necessary to hire beaters to drive the game, which there would be
+little chance otherwise of sighting, without undergoing more walking than most people find pleasant under a tropical sun.
+
+</p>
+<p>Having had the precaution to bring our own saddles with us, some miserable-looking ponies were procured, and started with
+a guide at an early hour in the morning, along a path formed for the most part, up and down thickly wooded hills, the road
+being sometimes a dry watercourse, or mountain stream.
+
+</p>
+<p>However, we got over the ground, passing through a beautiful country, and arrived at the meet after a four hours&#8217; ride, the
+place appointed being a hut belonging to the huntsman, and surrounded by three paddy fields, which he tilled, with his family,
+but did not live there, except at planting and reaping time, or for about six weeks of the year, from fear of the tulisanes,
+who, he said, frequented this wild and uninhabited neighbourhood. This is a frequent effect of the <a id="d0e1023"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1023">130</a>]</span>bad police of the Philippines, as much of the country that might be most advantageously cultivated, is abandoned to the jungle,
+solely from fear of these robbers, who sometimes add to their plundering propensities crimes of a more atrocious dye.
+
+</p>
+<p>After some good sport with deer and pigs, which constituted the supper of ourselves and all the beaters, night was very welcome,
+and seldom, indeed, did either of us enjoy repose more than in this hut, although through the holes in the grass walls of
+it the wind was whistling, and near us the beaters were noisily carousing, miscellaneously, upon sherry, cognac, and beer,
+it mattered not which to them, for we had presented some bottles of each, in order to celebrate the good day&#8217;s sport.
+
+</p>
+<p>Next morning we heard of a wild cimmarone (or buffalo) having been seen in the neighbourhood some days previously, and endeavoured
+to find out his whereabouts, but none of the scouts could get a trace of him. Although these splendid animals are occasionally
+found in the country, they are not very common, and their reputation for savage ferocity is so great, that few of the Indians
+like to shoot them, because, if merely <a id="d0e1029"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1029">131</a>]</span>wounded without being disabled, they are certain to charge the hunter, which is more than Oriental nerves are fond of.
+
+</p>
+<p>Monkeys chattering in the trees are very common; but I never shot any of them, having, in truth, an antipathy to kill a brute
+with a shape so nearly human.
+
+</p>
+<p>Near this end of the lake few Europeans ever go, as it is quite out of the beaten track, which leads them in an opposite direction,
+to look down the crater of a volcano, generally simmering, but seldom boiling over to such an extent as to spout lava to any
+distance.
+
+</p>
+<p>Calamba and Calawan are also places they usually go to see; at the latter of which, there is a cotton-spinning mill, the property
+of a Mestizo, who dresses like a Spaniard, and no doubt wishes to be considered such. The machinery employed is of Belgian
+or French make, and of a very simple construction, and far from being equal to the sort now used at home for the purpose;
+but is considered by its owner to be the only sort that would answer well there, as it can be kept in order, and even, I believe,
+put into repair on occasion by a native blacksmith, who acts as engineer, which could <a id="d0e1037"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1037">132</a>]</span>not, of course, be the case were machinery of a finer and more complex and elaborate construction employed, as that would
+render a staff of good European workmen essential to keep it in order and good repair, and their pay in this climate, would
+run away with all the profits of the adventure.
+
+</p>
+<p>The yarn produced is of the coarser descriptions, and is only saleable to the native weavers of cotton cloth, by the excessive
+duty put on grey cotton twist of British manufacture, which is 40 per cent. on a high <i>ad valorem</i> valuation if imported by a Spanish ship, and 50 per cent. if by any foreign vessel, amounting virtually to a prohibition
+on its importation.
+
+</p>
+<p>At the village of Los Ba&ntilde;os, on the shores of the laguna, there are some hot springs, flowing into baths cut out of the natural
+rock.
+
+</p>
+<p>The temperature of the water as it issues from the rock is sufficient to boil an egg; but not having a thermometer, we were
+unable to ascertain it more exactly. As it mixes with the cool water of the laguna, however, the heat decreases, and at sunrise
+on a cool morning forms just there a very pleasant bath. The baths, from which the place is named, having for long <a id="d0e1048"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1048">133</a>]</span>been little frequented by invalids, are now in a semi-ruinous state. In cases of debility they are said to be most beneficial,
+and the old Manilla doctor, Don Lorenzo Negrao, whose long experience of the country and of the diseases incidental to it
+is most valuable, in such cases sometimes recommends his patients to try these baths for some peculiar diseases, and once
+recommended them to me.
+
+</p>
+<p>The great mistake of our doctors in India is dosing their patients with calomel, which, although necessary in some cases,
+where it is the only medicine powerful enough to arrest the rapid strides with which disease advances in tropical countries,
+is too often had recourse to, when simples would be just as effective. And this mistake of theirs is equalled, in bad effects
+only, by the practice of the Spanish doctors, who will never administer calomel at all, even in the most urgent cases, as
+they prefer trusting altogether to simple remedies for a cure, and if a patient dies who has had calomel administered to him,
+do not hesitate to tell the practitioner who gave it that the medicine killed him.
+
+</p>
+<p>Within the tropics lengthened residence is the most essential qualification in a medical <a id="d0e1054"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1054">134</a>]</span>attendant, as although old men may not be so well up to the latest improvements of the science as those fresh from college,
+yet they have from practice found out the best way of treating tropical diseases, to which the treatment applicable in a London,
+Edinburgh, or Paris hospital in similar cases, would be quite out of place when practised in so different a climate as the
+tropics, where the symptoms vary and succeed each other with ten times the rapidity they do in Europe.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1056"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1056">135</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+<p>Before leaving Manilla on a lengthened country excursion, it is always desirable to procure introductions to the priests of
+the district you are going to visit, which may be effected with very little difficulty by almost any of your Spanish acquaintances.
+As although they are in general a most hospitable class of men, and usually invite any respectable looking European whom chance
+may throw in their way, to sleep at the convento if he be passing the night at their village, yet without an introduction
+one remains always a stranger to them, and sees nothing of their usual habits or modes of life.
+
+</p>
+<p>Sometimes their good-nature is put to a trial by the eccentricities of their British guests, and <a id="d0e1064"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1064">136</a>]</span>some odd incidents happen. A good story is told of one of the former British merchants of the place, who having taken it into
+his head to make an excursion, before starting provided himself with letters of recommendation from the Archbishop of Manilla,
+to whom he paid court by loans of newspapers, addressed to the parish priests, and set off with these in his pocket, finding
+them of the greatest service in insuring a welcome wherever he went, being described therein in the most favourable colours,
+by the high church dignitary.
+
+</p>
+<p>One day, after a long and fatiguing ride, he arrived, about two in the afternoon, in a very ravenous state, at a convent or
+parsonage. On ascending the stairs of the convento, the first thing which met the eyes of the hungry traveller was a table
+neatly arranged for the padre&#8217;s dinner, who, he was informed by the servants, would be back in about an hour to dine. An hour
+still&#8212;why it seemed to be a century since he had broken his fast; however, he waited for what appeared to a hungry man to
+be a long time, but in reality was probably ten minutes, when, losing all patience at the non-appearance of the priest, whose
+house he had so coolly taken possession <a id="d0e1068"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1068">137</a>]</span>of, he told the boys to put something to eat on the table, and they, apparently mistaking his meaning, in a trice served up
+the good priest&#8217;s half-cooked dinner, which, without the delay of asking any questions, he proceeded to devour. In a very
+short space of time he had cleared away the best part of it, and was beginning to relax in his exertions, as the good effects
+of a hearty meal began to mollify his craving stomach, in fact he was just beginning to attack the last relic of a fat capon,
+which formed the main battle of the dishes set out before him, when a heavy footstep was heard on the stairs, and in another
+instant the gaunt figure of the priest himself stood before the empty plates on the dinner table, and the unknown and unexpected
+guest, whose jaws were at the moment occupied in masticating the last morsel of the fat fowl, which the father had ordered
+for himself, and looking forward to it had caused him to take a lengthened promenade, in order to promote appetite. Imagine
+the scene&#8212;but whether the good padre&#8217;s momentary wrath, and then utter astonishment and indignation, or the guest&#8217;s embarrassment,
+were greatest&#8212;or the most ludicrous, it would be hard to determine. For <a id="d0e1070"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1070">138</a>]</span>some time they merely looked at each other, without speaking&#8212;the priest, probably, because he could not articulate&#8212;and his
+guest, perhaps, because his mouth was full&#8212;till the absurdity of the whole affair apparently striking them both at once, they
+mutually broke out into laughter, the violence of which threatened to convulse them. From this, however, the padre was the
+first to recover, when the intruder, mastering his muscles, regained his countenance so far as to be able to mutter something
+in the shape of an apology, in which, probably, the word &#8220;starvation&#8221; was the only one intelligible; after it had been good-humouredly
+received, and the priest had welcomed the strange guest, the Archbishop&#8217;s letter was produced as his credentials, but not
+till then. And afterwards they passed the evening together in the old convento, which, as the evening advanced, rang to many
+a merry laugh and jest about the affair in which both had figured so awkwardly.
+
+</p>
+<p>The caprices of all the visitors to the country are not, however, so harmless; it is not long since a party of young men,
+headed by one notorious for his love of fun, and what are called practical jokes, chartered a <i>chatta</i>, or covered cargo boat, <a id="d0e1077"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1077">139</a>]</span>of from 25 to 30 tons, and having put two carronades on board of her, set sail for the laguna, and while there amused themselves
+by bearing down, after nightfall, on the villages and towns on its banks, and bombarding them with the guns, taking care,
+however, not to do harm or to kill any one, either by not <a id="d0e1079"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: shotting">shooting</span> the guns, or if there was a ball in one of them, by aiming it a little over the houses, so as not to damage them. On the
+noise made by the guns being heard, and the flash seen so close to them in the dark nights, the whole male population of the
+place would turn out in haste to repel the attack of this supposed band of tulisanes, arming themselves with any sort of weapon,
+and getting the women and children out of harm&#8217;s way by sending them off&#8212;and probably an urgent despatch would be forwarded
+by the gobernadorcillo of the village to the governor of the province, if he lived within some few miles of him, requesting
+assistance&#8212;or detailing the flight of the robbers, who, on seeing the determination and force of the villagers prepared to
+defend their hearths, had not ventured to attempt landing, but had sailed away without having been able to do any damage to
+the pueblo.
+<a id="d0e1082"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1082">140</a>]</span></p>
+<p>These midnight bombardments were repeated so frequently as to lead the local authorities to make great efforts to put down
+the daring troop of robbers who bearded them at their very doors at the town of Santa Cruz, near which the Governor lives,
+and kept the country people, who had begun to talk about them, in a state of constant alarm.
+
+</p>
+<p>Notwithstanding all their efforts to discover the hiding-place of the band, nothing could be found out about them, no one
+ever imagining that the party of gentlemen in the chatta could be at all mixed up with them&#8212;in fact, the well-intentioned
+alcalde of the province, hearing that such a party was visiting the lake, sent off a <i>ministro</i> to give them information about the desperate band of tulisanes who were lurking in the neighbourhood, and advised them to
+be upon their guard against an attack; for which attention they of course thanked him, and assured the envoy that it was for
+that reason only they had provided themselves with the two formidable looking pieces of ordnance which he saw in the boat.
+
+</p>
+<p>They were not found out to have been representing the parts of the supposed tulisanes, till, on their return to Manilla, where
+people had <a id="d0e1092"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1092">141</a>]</span>heard of the disturbances in the province of the Laguna by these robbers, and were talking about it, the story somehow got
+wind, and, when it was known who had caused so much trouble, of course there was a general laugh at the local authorities.
+
+</p>
+<p>Lucky enough it was, however, that the affair rested there, as all of the party might have suffered severely for their amusement
+and fondness for <a id="d0e1096"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: cannonading">carronading</span>. It only caused the government to increase their strictness in giving passports to the country, which now were only conceded
+on the pleas of urgent business, or of ill health when that was backed by a medical certificate; the alcalde also became more
+strict in seeing that all travellers through the province were provided with these documents.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1099"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1099">142</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+<p>In the course of these excursions to the country, the native Indians, with a stray half-breed, generally of the China Mestizo
+race, are nearly the only people met with, as few Europeans are settled in the provinces, except in the provincial capitals,
+or near the alcalde, whose dependents they generally are. Should a stranger be able to speak to the natives in their own language,
+he has a much better opportunity of becoming acquainted with their character, habits, and feelings, than if he is merely able
+to speak Spanish, a language which only a very small proportion of them understand in the country, although most of those
+in the neighbourhood of Manilla can speak it after a fashion. For although <a id="d0e1105"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1105">143</a>]</span>the law makes it requisite for the Capitan of every pueblo to be able to speak as well as to read and write Spanish, yet this
+is not always the case, as I have frequently met with these officials, more especially in out-of-the-way places, who did not
+understand it.
+
+</p>
+<p>Nearly the whole, certainly above three-fourths of the population, make use of the Tagala or Tagaloc language, which, so far
+as I am aware, is quite peculiar to these islands, having little or no similarity to Malayee, so that it does not appear to
+have been derived from a Malay root, although some few Malay words have been engrafted on it, probably from the circumstance
+of that language being made use of in the province of Bisayas, which is the only place in the islands where it is spoken.
+
+</p>
+<p>In <a id="d0e1111"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Pampamga">Pampanga</span> province, the natives speak a distinct language, differing entirely from Tagaloc, quite as much as Welsh does from English,
+although many of the <a id="d0e1114"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Pampamgans">Pampangans</span>, on growing up, find it useful to know how to speak the Tagaloc, which most of them understand a little of.
+
+</p>
+<p>The <i>Negritos</i>, who are found in some parts of the islands, are a peculiar race, with features exactly resembling the African negro, although
+in <a id="d0e1122"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1122">144</a>]</span>general smaller made men, but formed with all the characteristics of the African. They also use a distinct language, and have
+very little intercourse with either of the other races&#8212;many tribes of them living, even up to this day, independent of, and
+unsubdued by, the Spaniards, whose active missionaries have however of late years been making every effort to reduce them
+to allegiance to the government of Manilla, as well as to the religion of the cross.
+
+</p>
+<p>These good men have penetrated, where soldiers dare not enter with arms in their hands, and in their case, truly, the sword
+has given place to the gown, with good effects to all concerned in the reduction of these wild Indians to the Roman Catholic
+faith, and the arts of civilized life; for many hundreds of them, nay, I believe thousands, are now peaceful cultivators of
+the soil, which, these good fathers have taught them how to till, instead of living, as they formerly did, at warfare with
+mankind, and solely on the produce of the chase.
+
+</p>
+<p>How these differences of race and language have arisen, it is probably impossible now to discover, at least I have never heard
+any one of the many theories on the subject, for they are <a id="d0e1128"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1128">145</a>]</span>nothing more than speculations, which could sustain all the requirements necessary to account for their existence in their
+present state.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the character of the native Indians there are very many good points, although they have long had a bad name, from their
+characters and descriptions coming from the Spanish mouths, who are too indolent to investigate it beyond their households,
+or at the most beyond their city walls; as very few, indeed, of all the Spaniards I met with have ever been in the country
+any distance from Manilla, except those whose duty it has been to proceed to a distance, as an alcalde of the province, or
+as an officer of the troops scattered through the islands,&#8212;very many of whom remain at home in the residency or in their quarters,
+smoking or drinking chocolate, and bewailing their hard fates, which have condemned them to live so far away from Manilla,
+from the theatre, and from society. They come and go without knowing, or caring to know, anything about the people around
+them, except when a feast-day comes, when they are always ready enough to visit their houses, dance with the beauties, and
+consume their suppers.
+
+</p>
+<p>The most noticeable traits in the Philippine <a id="d0e1134"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1134">146</a>]</span>Indians appear to be their hospitality, good-nature, and <i>bonhommie</i> which very many of them have. Their tempers are quick; but, like all of that sort, after effervescing, soon subside into
+quiet again.
+
+</p>
+<p>Very frequently have I been invited to enter their houses in the country, when loitering about during the heat of the sun,
+under the protection of an immense and thick sombrero which prevented me suffering much from the exposure; and on going into
+one of them, after the host or hostess had accommodated me with a seat on the <i>banco</i> of bamboo, a cigarillo, or the <i>buyo</i>, which is universally chewed by them, and composed of the betel nut and lime spread over an envelope of leaf, such as nearly
+all Asiatics use, has been offered by the handsome, though swarthy, hands of the hostess or of a grown-up daughter: or, if
+their rice was cooking at the time, often have I been invited to share it, and have sometimes so made a most excellent and
+hearty meal, using the natural aid of the fingers in place of a spoon, or other of the customary aids for eating. After eating
+they always wash their hands and mouths, so cleanly are their habits.
+
+</p>
+<p>So long as any white man behaves properly <a id="d0e1149"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1149">147</a>]</span>towards them, and treats them as human beings should be treated, their character will evince many good points; but should
+they be beaten or abused without a cause, or for something that they do not understand, as they but too frequently are when
+composing the crews of ships, the masters of which are seldom able to speak to them in their own language or in Spanish: who
+can blame them if the knife is drawn from its sheath, and their own arm avenges the maltreatment of some brutal shipmaster
+or his mates for the wrong they have suffered at their hands? In all I have seen or had to do with them they have never appeared
+as aggressors, and it has only been when the white men, despising their dark skins, have ventured on unjustifiable conduct,
+that I have heard of their hands being raised to revenge it.
+
+</p>
+<p>When they know that they are in the wrong, however, should the harshest measures be used towards them, I have never known
+or heard of their having had recourse to the knife, and I have frequently seen them suffer very severe bodily chastisement
+for very slight causes of offence.
+
+</p>
+<p>They are easily kept in order by gentleness, <a id="d0e1155"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1155">148</a>]</span>but have spirit enough to resent ill-treatment if undeserved. Not long ago an instance of the kind happened to a person who
+has the character of being a violent and irascible man. He one day fell into a passion about something or other, and fastened
+his ill-nature and passion on an inoffensive servant who chanced to be near him at the time, and ended some abuse by ordering
+the man to go into a room, where he followed him, and after locking the door and putting the key into his pocket, took up
+a riding switch and began to flog the servant, who bore it for a while, until, losing his temper completely, he seized his
+master by the throat, and, taking the whip from him, administered with it quite as much castigation as he had himself received.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their general character is that of a good-natured and merry people, strongly disposed to enjoy the present, and caring little
+for the future.
+
+</p>
+<p>So far as regards personal strength and mental activity or power, they are much superior to any of the Javanese or Malays
+I have seen in Java, or at Batavia and Singapore. But, to our modes of thinking, the greatest defect in their character is
+their indolence and dislike to any bodily exertion, which are the effects of the sun <a id="d0e1161"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1161">149</a>]</span>under which they live; but their native maxims and their habits, although we may disapprove of them now-a-days, when everything
+goes by steam, might be dignified by a great poet&#8217;s verse into the truest and best philosophy; for does he not sing,&#8212;
+
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Otium bello furiosa Thrace,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Otium Medi pharetra decori
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Grosphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nec auro.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Splendat in mens&acirc; tenui salinum;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Nec leves somnos timor aut Cupido
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style="text-indent: 6em; "><span>Sordidus aufert.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>L&aelig;tus in pr&aelig;sens animus, quod ultra est
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Oderit curare, et amara lento
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Temperet risu, &amp;c.&#8212;&#8212;<span class="smallcaps">Hor.</span> II. xvi.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div><a id="d0e1189"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1189">150</a>]</span></div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+<p>At Manilla a labourer&#8217;s pay is a quarter of a dollar a-day, or a little more than a shilling, which is enough to keep him
+supplied with food of as good quality and quantity as he needs to eat for about two or three days, so that if a labourer or
+coolie, who has only himself to support, work two days out of the seven, he has enough to supply all his necessities, and
+can enjoy what is to him a high degree of pleasure and amusement,&#8212;the training of a cock for the cockpit, sleeping a long
+siesta, gossiping with his neighbour, and chewing <i>buyos</i>, or smoking cigarillos, quite at his ease, during the rest of the time.
+
+</p>
+<p>They have all a strong dislike to settling down <a id="d0e1200"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1200">151</a>]</span>to any employment demanding the exercise of much bodily exertion, even when it is well remunerated; and the consequence is,
+that the extreme difficulty of procuring labour forms the greatest drawback there is to a planter settling in the Philippines,
+and not unfrequently causes the one or two people who have now got plantations there on a small scale, to suffer the utmost
+inconvenience in the management of their estates; and this operates to so great an extent, as virtually to prevent any one
+but a very bold and speculative man investing money in sugar plantations, or otherwise locking it up in agriculture. Government
+has long been sensible of this, and the present Captain-General has issued an order, containing a permission for persons engaging
+in plantations to import Chinese labourers, to whom, if actually engaged in tilling the soil, are conceded certain privileges
+which they have not hitherto enjoyed, being subject to less tribute than what is paid by the rest of their countrymen who
+are engaged in other avocations.
+
+</p>
+<p>This decree had been lying ready for years in the desks of the Government officials, no Governor till recently having had
+the courage to publish an order so greatly in advance of their general <a id="d0e1204"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1204">152</a>]</span>policy. As it is, this is one of the greatest steps they have ever taken in the right direction; and I trust it may be attended
+with the best effects, although some of the restrictions on the China labourers may tell against it; and I fear that the large
+outlay necessary to import labour from China, while they have a supply, although it is a very uncertain one, at their doors,
+without incurring the expense and risk of doing so, may hinder the success of the scheme.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are very few people in the colony who are possessed of the capital necessary to start a plantation on a large scale.
+And the existing laws prevent or check foreigners doing so, unless they get married to a Spanish or native woman, which, from
+their general character, few British would like to do; or by abjuring their religion, and getting naturalized, which is a
+measure equally or more repugnant to the human breast, unless self-interest is the beacon which directs the path, or is the
+motive for doing so.
+
+</p>
+<p>However, should plantations on a large scale ever be carried on in these islands with an equal degree of facility, science,
+care, and attention, and with the improved machinery now employed in sugar estates in Jamaica and elsewhere, there <a id="d0e1210"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1210">153</a>]</span>can be little doubt that the productions of the islands will be greatly increased, and it will do good so far; but whether
+it would tend to improve the condition, or increase the comforts of the people, now so independent of care for a livelihood,
+appears to be more than doubtful; in other respects, it would do them good, by stimulating their energies.
+
+</p>
+<p>At present there are no large plantations on the islands, although two or three of small size exist, none of which are understood
+to be sufficiently remunerating to offer any inducement to invest money in a similar manner.
+
+</p>
+<p>At Jalajala, M. Vidie, an hospitable old Frenchman, has an estate; but I understand that the most unceasing efforts, and the
+greatest economy, care, and attention, have been necessary to make it answer, both on his part and on that of its former owner,
+an Anglo-American, and a person of great ingenuity, who got so much disgusted with the incessant battle he had to fight with
+the soil, and those who tilled it, that after overcoming the greatest difficulties, he sold the estate, and was glad to be
+quit of it.
+
+</p>
+<p>The whole of the productions of the islands are raised by the poor Indian cultivators, each <a id="d0e1218"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1218">154</a>]</span>from his own small patch of land, which they till with very simple, though efficient implements of agriculture.
+
+</p>
+<p>With the existing high prices of labour, there is, however, probably nearly as much surplus produce available for exportation
+as there would be for years to come, under the system of large plantations and dear labour. Because the present occupiers
+of the land&#8212;employing no hired labour, but only directing the industry of the farmer and that of his family, to the small
+patch on which they were born, and, of course, have some affection for&#8212;are certain to expend far more labour on their own
+land, and to bring it to a much higher degree of cultivation, than it would suit the purpose of a large planter to do; who,
+like the Australian or Canadian colonist, would probably find it most for his interest to cultivate a large surface of land
+imperfectly, as under high wages of labour, and comparatively cheap land, it would be likely to yield him a better return
+than if he cultivated only a small surface of ground highly.
+
+</p>
+<p>For this seems to be the only policy, where the elements to be combined are dear labour and cheap land; just as when they
+are dear land and <a id="d0e1224"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1224">155</a>]</span>cheap labour, the contrary would be the case, as it is in Britain.
+
+</p>
+<p>Now, when I call a quarter of a dollar per diem a high rate of labour, I may be misunderstood if it is not stated that this
+rate, when paid to the slow and careless Indian labourer, is fully equivalent to three times that sum to a white or British
+labourer working at home; as an able-bodied man at home would do about three times as much work, and would perform it in a
+highly superior manner.
+
+</p>
+<p>These reasons make me loath to see the present system of small holdings changed, which would sever old and respectable ties,
+and would force the present independent Indian cottage-farmer to seek employment from the extensive cultivator, and, without
+getting more work out of him in the course of a year, would lower him in self-respect, and in the many virtues which that
+teaches, without deriving any correspondent advantage to society.
+
+</p>
+<p>In a tropical climate the elements of society are varied, and quite different from those of a country with a climate like
+that of Great Britain. A native Indian, under a tropical sun, could scarcely support a system of really <i>hard</i> labour <a id="d0e1235"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1235">156</a>]</span>for six days of the week for any length of time; and their indolent habits are, in some degree, necessary to their existence,
+perhaps as much as his night&#8217;s rest is to the British labourer; for without days of relaxation to supply the stamina which
+they have lost during exposure to the sun and hard labour under it, it is my decided opinion that the men so exposed, and
+exhausted, would, after a very few years, knock themselves up, and become unfit to work, thereby rendering themselves an unproductive
+class, and burdens on their friends and on society.
+
+</p>
+<p>The present cultivators, who show a high degree of intelligence in many of their operations, in cultivating their staple,
+rice, for example, actually expend more labour on their land, and work much more constantly than any hirelings would do; as
+at Jalajala, out of upwards of a hundred labourers in the village who had no other employment or source of revenue but their
+labour, not above a third of the able-bodied men mustered in the fields when the labours of the day began in the morning;
+and I understood from the owner of the estate, that under no circumstances could he prevail on the whole body of labourers
+to muster, nor, so long as their rice <a id="d0e1239"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1239">157</a>]</span>lasts, will they work; it is only when that fails, and they will starve if they do not exert themselves, that they will undergo
+hard labour in the fields under the broiling sun.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1241"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1241">158</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+<p>Very few of the native Indians or Mestizos are possessed of much wealth, according to British ideas of the term, although
+there are some of the latter class who are considered among themselves as very well off, if their savings amount to from five
+to twenty thousand dollars; and when they reach fifty thousand dollars, they are looked upon as rich capitalists.
+
+</p>
+<p>In Manilla, there are one or two of these Mestizo traders whose fortunes amount to more than this; but such occurances are
+rare, and are seldom heard of. Many of these amounts have been collected together by their possessors by their engaging in
+a sort of usurious money-lending or banking business with the poverty-struck <a id="d0e1249"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1249">159</a>]</span>cultivators of the soil, by advancing seed to many of them for their paddy fields, and making the hard condition of exacting
+in return about one half of the produce of the ensuing crop. But perhaps these money-lenders are, to a certain extent, necessary
+to supply the wants of an improvident and careless race, these habits being besetting sins of the Indian character; yet there
+can be little doubt that the money acquired by such a usurious repayment of the sums advanced, does an immense deal of harm,
+and lessens the natural independence of the Indians who are so unfortunate as to fall into the clutches of the money-lender.
+Should a poor Indian, the possessor of a patch of paddy-land capable of producing very little more than is required to feed
+his family, once run short of seed, he has a very hard battle to fight with the soil before he is able to get that debt cleared
+off, should his neighbours be too poor to assist him, as he must then have recourse to the usurer. For although, through his
+greater efforts and improved cultivation, he may produce much more paddy than his land had done before, yet he is seldom able
+to save enough for seed from the moiety of the produce which his appetite restricted to live upon, as the other half must
+go to repay the <a id="d0e1251"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1251">160</a>]</span>usurer who advanced him seed, or money to purchase it.
+
+</p>
+<p>I have seldom heard of Europeans engaging in this business, for which their nature and habits are much less suitable than
+those Mestizo capitalists who devote themselves to the traffic.
+
+</p>
+<p>These debts are frequently contracted by the Indians in emulating the splendour of some richer neighbour on their patron saint&#8217;s
+feast-day, when, in proportion to their means, an immense deal of extravagant expenditure usually takes place; but, with the
+exception of the cockpit, all their other expenses are very slight and thrifty.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their houses are mostly composed of attap, or nipa grass, on a bamboo framework fixed on and supported by several strong wooden
+posts, generally the trunks of trees, sunk deep enough in the ground to render them capable of resisting the violent gales
+of wind common over all the islands during particular months of the year. In the villages some of the richer natives have
+wooden houses&#8212;that is to say, the framework of the part of the house dwelt in is of wood, being generally supported by a stone
+wall which composes the bodega, &amp;c., underneath.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their furniture is generally made from the <a id="d0e1261"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1261">161</a>]</span>bamboo, and from this most useful plant several of their household utensils are also formed; all these are of the simplest
+description, but amply sufficient to supply their wants.
+
+</p>
+<p>A crucifix, and the portraits of several saints, are universally found attached to the walls, and before these they are at
+all seasons accustomed devoutly to repeat their morning and evening orisons&#8212;all the family kneeling while the mother recites
+the prayer.
+
+</p>
+<p>At nearly all houses in the country a large mortar scooped out of the trunk of some tree is found, being the instrument employed
+to free their paddy from the husk, and convert it into rice. This operation appears to rank among those household duties which
+fall to the wife&#8217;s share to perform. The pestle is sometimes of considerable weight; and when it is so, is worked by two women
+at once.
+
+</p>
+<p>In their field operations the buffalo is the only animal employed, and is probably the only one domesticated possessing the
+requisite strength to perform the work, as the country oxen and horses are much too small; and although more active, are too
+weak to drag the plough through the flooded paddy fields in which they would get entangled <a id="d0e1269"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1269">162</a>]</span>and sink, sometimes to their middles; but through land in this state the bulky buffalo delights to wade, and, although slowly,
+creeps along, and forces himself through.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the towns the buffalo is still employed in carts and light work, for which it is not so well suited as the active-paced
+horses or oxen of the country would be, and they no doubt will in time be adopted for these purposes.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the country the horses are only used for the saddle, and for conveying small packages of goods from one country shopkeeper
+to another, as the roads they have to traverse are such as to preclude any use of conveyances upon wheels.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1275"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1275">163</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+<p>Throughout the islands there is a part of every village set apart for the market-place, where in the early morning, and after
+sunset in the evening, the utmost activity in buying and selling prevails. At all of these places rice, fish, and butcher
+meat (generally, but not always), fruit, and merchandise of the most suitable sorts to supply the wants of the people who
+are likely to purchase it, are exposed for sale. It is a curious scene to walk through such a place for the first time, especially
+after sunset, when the red glare of the torches or lamps shows to perfection the sparkling eyes, swarthy features, and long
+hair, which, waving about over the foreheads of the men, gives them a wildness of look, which their sombre dress, consisting
+of a dark blue shirt and <a id="d0e1281"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1281">164</a>]</span>trousers, having nothing to attract the attention from the sparkle of their eyes, makes all the more striking.
+
+</p>
+<p>In Santa Cruz market-place at Manilla, between the hours of six and eight in the morning and evening, an immense crowd collect
+to supply their household wants, and innumerable are the articles displayed in the shops;&#8212;here the cochineal of Java, there
+the sago of Borneo, or the earthenware of China. In the Bamboo Islands the more perishable commodities are exposed for sale;
+and fish being the principal article of the natives&#8217; food (and also a favourite one of the white men), is found exposed for
+sale in large quantities. But all so offered is dead, even when the vendor is a Chinaman, although in his native country great
+quantities of it are hawked about the streets by the sellers carrying them alive, in water, so that the purchaser is certain
+always to have this food fresh and untainted by keeping; for even a few hours is sufficient to spoil it in this climate.
+
+</p>
+<p>The market is well supplied with all descriptions of fish caught in the Pasig or the bay, most of which are well tasted; the
+fishermen of the villages in the neighbourhood being the principal <a id="d0e1287"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1287">165</a>]</span>suppliers. A small sort is found in the river very much resembling white-bait in taste. Shrimps are also consumed in large
+quantities. After the rains there may generally be procured, by those who like them, frogs, which are taken from the ditch
+round the walls in great numbers, and are then fat, and in good condition for eating, making a very favourite curry of some
+of the Europeans, their flesh being very tender.
+
+</p>
+<p>The natives principally eat fish, but there is besides a large quantity of beef and pork consumed by them, which are always
+procurable, except on Fridays, when some little difficulty may be experienced in procuring flesh, as there is only enough
+killed on the morning of that day to supply the wants of the invalids. The country-fed pork is seldom or never seen at the
+tables of Europeans, these animals being too frequently allowed to feed in a most disgusting manner; and many pigs may at
+any time be seen in the suburbs of the town where the Indians dwell roaming about the streets, and efficiently performing
+the duties of scavengers, by removing the filth and garbage from many of these remote streets.
+
+</p>
+<p>But notwithstanding their knowing, and in fact daily seeing, this gross and disgusting mode of <a id="d0e1293"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1293">166</a>]</span>feeding, it is the most universal and favourite food of the Chinese at Manilla, and is also a favourite with the Indians.
+
+</p>
+<p>The continued use of pork so fed not unfrequently produces a skin disease called sarnas, something resembling itch.
+
+</p>
+<p>Fowls, turkeys, and ducks, both tame and wild, are at all times procurable, the supplies of the latter being from the Laguna.
+Geese are seldom or never exposed for sale, but are sometimes sent from China to private persons merely for their own consumption.
+
+</p>
+<p>It is a curious thing that geese will not produce eggs, or sit upon them to hatch their young, at Manilla; and it is also
+a sufficiently odd circumstance, that turkeys die in a short time after reaching Singapore, where they are sometimes sent
+to private individuals for domestic use, although they thrive very well both in the Philippines and in Java. At Singapore,
+however, after being a few days ashore, some of them are attacked by a peculiar sickness, apparently giddiness of the head,
+which invariably ends in death in a few minutes after the commencement of the attack. All these birds are subject to it at
+that place, if allowed <a id="d0e1301"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1301">167</a>]</span>to go about too long before being seized upon by the cook.
+
+</p>
+<p>The principal food of the Indians being rice, it is found exposed for sale, in large and small quantities, in the bazaars,
+where nearly all the kinds of fruits of the season may also be found. The catalogue of fruits grown in the islands is a long
+one, but among those most commonly seen may be reckoned plantains of all kinds, of which there are an immense variety; mangoes,
+which are remarkably good, and superior to any species grown in the East, excepting those of Bombay, to which they are equal;
+the custard-apple, the pine-apple, seldom equal to those of Batavia or Singapore; limes, and oranges, not very good, and greatly
+inferior to those of China, from whence some are imported by the trading Spanish vessels constantly running between the two
+places; melons of different kinds, of middling quality; cucumbers, pumpkins, jackfruit, <a id="d0e1305"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: anzones">lanzones</span>, and many other sorts.
+
+</p>
+<p>The best gardens, or those from which Manilla is chiefly supplied with fruit, are in the vicinity of Cavite, from which place
+the country people bring it every morning, the carriers being <a id="d0e1310"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1310">168</a>]</span>generally young women, who, from the steadiness requisite to balance the fruit-baskets on their heads, acquire a good walk,
+somewhat at the expense of their necks, however.
+
+</p>
+<p>The most common sorts of vegetables exposed for sale appear to be the sweet potatoes, yams, and lettuce; and green pea-pods
+are sometimes to be had, but the latter are seldom good.
+
+</p>
+<p>The temperature induces such a rapid vegetation as to injure their taste, as it prevents their ripening, for, after attaining
+a certain growth, the sun dries up the pod in a very few days, to prevent which they are pulled very early, when the pea is
+so small and delicate, being barely formed, that the cooks usually serve up both pods and peas together at table, after having
+minced them into small pieces with a knife, being unable to separate them properly.
+
+</p>
+<p>The common potatoe is imported from China, and from the Australian colonies. Those from Van Diemen&#8217;s Land are the best; the
+sorts received from China are usually watery and small, being greatly inferior to those sent up from Australia.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the fair monsoon, the Chinamen sometimes <a id="d0e1320"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1320">169</a>]</span>get supplies of apples, pears, cabbage, &amp;c., from Shanghai, and these are considered as great delicacies.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are many other fruits and vegetables procurable at Manilla, but those mentioned are the sorts usually met with.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1324"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1324">170</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+<p>The population of the islands is very uncertain, for although the Government makes the census <i>apparently</i> with some exactness, a very little knowledge of the country is sufficient to show that they do not do so in reality, but
+that this resembles all their other statistical information, and cannot be depended upon, although it is useful in leading
+to an approximation.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their data are made up from the revenue derived from a capitation tax, which is so much per head for all grown up persons;
+but as it is the interest of all who may be called upon to pay it to keep out of the way during the period of its collection,
+many of them do so without much difficulty, more especially in the remote districts, where their facilities for concealment
+are much <a id="d0e1335"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1335">171</a>]</span>greater than in the neighbourhood of Manilla, or of the provincial capitals, where the alcaldes reside; so that those actually
+liable to it are very much greater than the payers of the tax. I estimate the population at a little under five million souls,
+the great bulk of whom are engaged in agricultural pursuits.
+
+</p>
+<p>Great numbers of people are also employed as fishermen, artizans of all sorts, and as manufacturers of cloth fabrics of various
+descriptions. In addition to the people so gaining a livelihood by their industry, there are scattered throughout the islands
+many Indians, without any occupation, and apparently altogether dependent on the fruit of the plaintain-tree for subsistence,
+and indulging all their natural laziness and indolence of disposition by its aid, preferring to subsist on the fruit of this
+most productive plant, which they can do, from its being always procurable and at all times of the year in season, without
+an effort towards its cultivation, to undertaking the labour and attention necessary to grow rice.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some of these people are hunters, occasionally going out to the wilds in pursuit of game, which must alternate beneficially
+with their vegetable diet.
+<a id="d0e1341"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1341">172</a>]</span></p>
+<p>As an article of food, however, the plantain does not appear to be so nutritive or strength-supporting as rice; at least,
+those persons who are principally dependent on it for food appear less robust looking than the rice-fed population. This,
+however, may not be entirely owing to that cause, but may be attributable in some degree to their lazy habits, which, by preventing
+them taking much exercise or bodily exertion, renders the muscles of their bodies less developed than those of the other Indians
+whose harder work keeps their frames in a proper state of health.
+
+</p>
+<p>In person, the native Indians are a good deal slighter and shorter than Europeans, but are, on the average, taller and stouter
+than the Malays, many of them having that broad make of shoulders and lustiness of limb which indicate personal strength.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their countenances are in general open and pleasing, and would be handsome, but for their smallness of nose, which is the
+worst feature in the native physiognomy; however, when that feature is well shaped, as it frequently is, their faces are decidedly
+handsome and good-looking.
+
+</p>
+<p>These remarks apply to both sexes; a number <a id="d0e1350"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1350">173</a>]</span>of the women are very beautiful, for although their skin is dusky, the ruddiness of their blood shows through it on the cheek,
+producing a very beautiful colour, and their dark, lustrous eyes are in general more lit up with intelligence and vivacity
+of expression, than those of any Indians I have seen elsewhere.
+
+</p>
+<p>A very pleasant trait, to my taste, is the nearly universal frankness and candid look that nature has stamped upon their features,
+which, when accompanied by the softness of manner common to all Asiatics, is particularly gratifying in the fairer part of
+creation.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their figures are well shaped, being perfectly straight and graceful, and nearly all of them have the small foot and hand,
+which may be regarded as a symbol of unmixed blood when very small and well shaped; as although the Mestizas gain from their
+European progenitor a greater fairness of skin, they generally retain the marks of it in their larger bones, and their hands
+and feet are seldom so well shaped as those of the pure-bred Indian, even although the Spaniards are noted for possessing
+these points in equal or greater perfection than the people of other European countries.
+<a id="d0e1356"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1356">174</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The bath is a great luxury among the natives, and of all country-born people, who appear to be fully as fond of the water
+as ducks are, and never look so well pleased as when they are paddling about in it, for nearly all the women can swim.
+
+</p>
+<p>It used to be a very favourite sport to make up a bathing party of ladies, who, dressed in their long gowns, bathed with their
+male friends equipped in parjamas, or in short bathing trousers, without hesitation, swimming about in a retired part of the
+river for a long time, generally stopping at least an hour in the water, on leaving which, and dressing, all reunited to breakfast,
+or amuse themselves in some way, with dancing or music. These parties, however, are now seldom heard of, as the late arrivals
+from Spain have been so many as to be able to take the lead, and give a tone to the society of Manilla, and are now in the
+midst of revolutionizing the old habits and customs of the place, certainly not at all for the better, as they have yet to
+learn that what is suitable in Europe is not so in the tropics.
+
+</p>
+<p>Fondness for gay dress is universal, and the <i>ninas</i> take considerable pains to understand the <a id="d0e1366"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1366">175</a>]</span>subject, and to adorn their natural good looks to the most advantage by the selection of the most appropriate colours.
+
+</p>
+<p>Their hair is one of the most remarkable beauties in the native and Mestiza women, being very much longer, and of a finer
+gloss, than that of any Europeans.
+
+</p>
+<p>The staple and most favourite food of the people is rice seasoned by sun-dried or salted fish, if they should be unable to
+procure it fresh, which is, however, seldom the case, as the rivers in the country abound with many different sorts, and all
+of them appear to be very good and well tasted.
+
+</p>
+<p>And not only do the rivers abound with fish, but great numbers of <i>dalag</i> are found in the flooded paddy fields during and subsequent to the rainy season, when they are soaked with water. How this
+fish, which is not very good to eat, being tasteless and insipid, comes there, is a curious problem, as it is often killed
+in paddy grounds at a great distance from any stream, out of which it could come during an overflow. I am not quite certain
+whether this fish is ever killed in a stream or not, or whether it is only found in the paddy fields.
+<a id="d0e1377"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1377">176</a>]</span></p>
+<p>I do not recollect of its once being caught in a river, although the natives kill the fish in the ditches and paddy fields
+in large quantities, either by shooting them with shot, as they flounder in the fields, or by pursuing and capturing them,
+and knocking them down with a stick.
+
+</p>
+<p>In fact, I suspect the <i>dalag</i> to be an intermediary between the reptile and the fish, although not naturalist enough to investigate the subject in a proper
+manner.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1385"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1385">177</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+<p>Many of my readers may chance to be aware that the whole group of Philippine islands was mortgaged to Great Britain for payment
+of the ransom agreed upon at the time of our conquest of them nearly a century ago; and as up till this time neither the money
+nor the interest on it has been obtainable, as it probably never will be, they are, at this, or any other time, virtually
+our property, should the British Government foreclose the mortgage and demand payment. This, even at present, when the kingdom
+is groaning under extreme pressure for the necessary funds annually squeezed out of it, would not be thought a prudent course,
+even by the ultra-economical politicians who are so lavish of displaying their <a id="d0e1391"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1391">178</a>]</span>crude projects of retrenchment on neatly ruled-off paper.
+
+</p>
+<p>There is no doubt, however, that the cash is never likely to be forthcoming from the Spaniards, and, under these circumstances,
+it surely would be worth the attention of Her Majesty&#8217;s Government, more especially as they profess free-trade ideas, to make
+this state of things the basis of a request, or even of a <i>claim</i>, on the Spanish Government, for obtaining some liberal concessions in favour of their countrymen, and the rest of the world,
+carrying on commercial intercourse with the Philippines, which is now limited to Manilla; all foreigners being prohibited
+from engaging in the country trade, or from owning property in lands, houses, or ships in the Philippines.
+
+</p>
+<p>Of course, the Spaniards themselves suffer for the illiberality of this policy, as there can be no doubt that, were it more
+free, and less burdened with restrictions of all sorts than it now is, it would be attended with the best effects to their
+own treasury, as well as be for the general welfare of the islands.
+
+</p>
+<p>This is what they cannot yet comprehend; but it would not be difficult to make them understand it, if the employ&eacute; who undertook
+the task understood <a id="d0e1402"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1402">179</a>]</span>it himself, and possessed knowledge enough of the character of the people he had to deal with. Any request, if made in a proper
+tone, by our Government, would draw attention to the subject at Madrid, and some good might be done, even were it only of
+partial advantage, as for many years to come they are not likely to step boldly out into the subject.
+
+</p>
+<p>At Zamboanga, opposite Zooloo, there already exists a custom-house and other government offices for the regulation of their
+own trade with these islands. But no foreigners are allowed to reside at Zamboanga. Surely the permission for them to do so
+is worthy the attention of a government which has established and is supporting, at considerable expense, the colony of Labuan
+for the object not only of extending our trade and the use of the products of our manufacturing population, but also with
+the more generous and noble idea of civilizing the people in its neighbourhood by their influence, and of teaching them the
+blessings that flow from industry and peace.
+
+</p>
+<p>The appointment of Sir James Brooke as Governor of Labuan was in every respect a wise proceeding, as it affords a philanthropist
+a very wide field on which to exert his influence. Unfortunately, <a id="d0e1408"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1408">180</a>]</span>however, for him, a number of well-informed people, residing in the neighbourhood of the spot where his philanthropic exertions
+are said to have taken place, deny their having had any existence; but, on the contrary, accuse that gentleman, through the
+columns of a Singapore newspaper, of the worst motives and conduct: in short, he is accused in that newspaper of murdering
+innocent natives in great numbers by falsely representing them to be pirates, to serve his own purposes and gratify his Sarawak
+subjects&#8217; dislike of them; the naval officers, whose services had been placed at his disposal to put down piracy, being misled
+by him.
+
+</p>
+<p>I am not sufficiently acquainted with all the facts of the case to say with what truth this accusation is made, although,
+I believe, so grave a charge has never been contradicted by him, or by his friends authorized to do so in his name, and to
+state the true facts of the case to the public. But, as far as Labuan is concerned, those people who are best qualified to
+judge appear to be of opinion that, although it should have a fair trial for some years longer, it will never become a place
+of much commercial importance.
+<a id="d0e1412"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1412">181</a>]</span></p>
+<p>There is little doubt that were foreigners allowed to settle at Zamboango, where Zooloo, Mindanao, and the entire southern
+coasts of the Philippines would be open to their enterprise, it would be productive of the most beneficial effects, not merely
+to our merchants and manufacturers, but to the cause of civilization throughout all these barbarous countries, and would probably
+be found much more effective in putting an end to the existing state of piracy and kidnapping, which are now carried on to
+some extent, than any warlike means which have hitherto been employed to suppress them.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are many other objects of a commercial nature worth the consideration of an enlightened government, such as the disproportionate
+protective duties in favour of their national shipping and the produce of Spain; and some degree of toleration to the religious
+opinions of foreigners residing at Manilla might also be obtained; so far, at least, as to permit their having a piece of
+consecrated ground for burying their dead, if no more should be granted; at present they are not permitted to place the remains
+of a Protestant within the limits of consecrated ground; but have to bury them in a field where <a id="d0e1417"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1417">182</a>]</span>Chinamen, who retained their country&#8217;s faith till the end of their lives, are laid, and where swine are continually going
+about routing up the soil, at the imminent hazard of disturbing recently interred bodies.
+
+</p>
+<p>Liberty for foreigners to settle in the country for the purposes of trade or agriculture, and to hold property, might be obtained
+without much difficulty, were it properly explained, and shown that their doing so would benefit the Spaniards as much as
+themselves.
+
+</p>
+<p>Under the existing laws their inability to hold property prevents those foreigners who, after passing many years in the country,
+have become as it were almost native, and where they have contracted ties and formed connexions which few men would like to
+break, from settling down in it for the remainder of their lives. As they have no means of investing their gains with security,
+though they have probably reached an age when the cares of business press heavily on relaxed energies, and they are disposed
+to sit down quietly, and enjoy themselves in the country where they are naturalized in every thing but in the eye of the law&#8212;all
+the interest which good citizens, holding pecuniary investments, <a id="d0e1423"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1423">183</a>]</span>naturally take in the well-being of the country, is withdrawn from them. No wonder, then, that they are careless about the
+domestic improvement of the Philippines, or of their progress in those arts which fill the treasuries of rulers, and make
+subjects happy.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1425"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1425">184</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+<p>The laws do not appear to be bad in themselves, but the dilatoriness with which they are administered has the effect of rendering
+them as baneful to those living under them as if they were radically bad; the delays and accidents inseparable from the mode
+of conducting legal business are very vexatious, and frequently from its cost it is quite inefficient for its purposes of
+justice. However, Spain and its colonies are not singular in that respect, as there is one great and flourishing country which
+I could name, where the same defects exist, although, thank God, in a less degree than they do either in the colony of Spain,
+or in that country itself; so the less said about the mote in our brother&#8217;s eye, the better <a id="d0e1431"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1431">185</a>]</span>for those who have at this moment a beam in the organ of their own judicial executive.
+
+</p>
+<p>In conducting a <i>pleito</i> at Manilla, all is done by writing; first, the charge is made out and filed; then comes an answer to the charge; then a counter-answer
+is put in, and that again is replied to; and so on they go for any length of time, determined by the weight of the purses
+of the respective contending parties, till, if no more is to be said, or if one or both of them gets tired of the expense,
+and the case is decided, the other, if he be a rich man, can refer the whole affair to Spain, where the same pleadings have
+to be again gone through, and all the vexation and expense re-incurred, besides that the decision of the case may with a little
+management be protracted for any indefinite length of time. This is not worse than what happens at home, and is similar to
+some of our Scotch cases in former times, when for a century or more one case would be agitated to gratify family dislike
+or prejudice. That no one may think I exaggerate, it may be as well to mention a case which is still undecided at this moment,
+and which originated about 1731, between the lairds of Kilantringan and <a id="d0e1438"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1438">186</a>]</span>Miltonise in Galloway, although near kinsmen, namesakes, and neighbours.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are few things more dreaded by the Spaniards themselves than a lawsuit with one another. Many of them, however, are
+glad of the chance it gives them to be revenged on people with whom they are not upon good terms. So vile is the whole law
+and practice relating to the testamentary disposal of property, and to such lengths have the abuses in this particular branch
+of it gone, that it has become a proverb among Spaniards to say that a wise man would prefer being a trustee on an estate,
+to being heir to it; and several people at Manilla are well known to be living on their gains from executorships, &amp;c., having
+no other means of support. These persons, although their incomes are almost universally known to be so derived, are not in
+the least shunned as dishonest people, but are looked upon as being perfectly entitled to feather their own nests in place
+of performing their duty, as we should understand it to be in Britain.
+
+</p>
+<p>The police laws and regulations are also badly administered, being very shameful to the Government which permits things to
+go on under the <a id="d0e1444"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1444">187</a>]</span>same loose system as before. Were there a more numerous and efficient police force scattered over the country, none of the
+Spaniards would be afraid, as many of them now actually are, to live out of town, or to make distant excursions to the country,
+from fear of the <i>tulisanes</i>, or robber-bands, which are scattered about in various places, and are found pursuing their avocations in the neighbourhood
+of the capital, although not so boldly as they did a few years since. These robbers plunder the country in bands perfectly
+organized, and bodies of them are generally existing within a few miles of Manilla,&#8212;the wilds and forests of the Laguna being
+favourite haunts, as well as the shores of the Bay of Manilla, from which they can come by night, without leaving a trace
+of the direction they have taken, in bodies of ten and twenty men at a time, in a large banca. They have apparently some friends
+in Manilla, who plan out their enterprises, send them intelligence, and direct their attacks; so that every now and then they
+are heard of as having gutted some rich native or Mestizo&#8217;s house in the suburbs of Manilla, after which they generally manage
+to get away clear before the alguacils come up.
+<a id="d0e1449"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1449">188</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The houses of Europeans are also occasionally attacked, although much less boldly within the last year or two; yet it is the
+custom for people to retire to bed, even in the heart of the town without the walls, with pistols, a sword, or some other
+weapon within reach. That these people do immense damage there is no doubt, as they not only plunder the country people of
+buffaloes and horses, but rifle their houses, if no better prey is to be had, to such an extent, that the natives are afraid
+to live at any distance from each other in many parts of the country, solely through fear of them. From this cause, patches
+of fine paddy land in out-of-the-way districts are left uncultivated, or are hurriedly ploughed and sown by adventurous persons,
+who after doing so retire into the nearest village to live, till the time comes to reap as much of the paddy as the deer and
+numerous wild pigs have left untouched.
+
+</p>
+<p>The punishments of these bad characters are severe enough when justice chances to get hold of them; and, should their crimes
+be atrocious, they occasionally suffer death. Sometimes they are <i>garroted</i>, which is done in this way. After being seated at the place of execution, with the back towards a high post of wood, the
+culprit&#8217;s <a id="d0e1457"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1457">189</a>]</span>neck is encircled by an iron collar attached to the post, and capable of compression by a powerful screw passing through the
+post, which, on the signal being made, the executioner turns, and the victim is choked in a second. The practice is much less
+disgusting than hanging, as no effects are visible to an on-looker beyond the convulsive movement of a frame loaded with heavy
+irons to prevent a severe and disgusting struggle with departing life.
+
+</p>
+<p>A good many of the <i>tulisanes</i> are soldiers who, after committing some peccadillo, feared its discovery and punishment, and flying to the wilds have joined
+or organised a troop from among the bad characters in the neighbourhood of their hiding-place.
+
+</p>
+<p>These executions are not unfrequent at Manilla. One morning, when riding near the usual place of execution on the sea-beach,
+I saw six deserters, who had composed a band of atrocious robbers, suffer death from the muskets of their former comrades;
+those who were not killed at once, having an end put to their existence by the pistols of a serjeant, who stepped close up
+to them before discharging the piece.
+
+</p>
+<p>Truly it was a sad sight to see their former <a id="d0e1468"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1468">190</a>]</span>comrades degraded into executioners. The number of women who had collected to witness the last act of this tragedy was very
+great, very much outnumbering the men present. But they were principally composed of the most worthless class of females;
+yet on many of them the example appeared to make a considerable impression.
+
+</p>
+<p>I have no doubt, whatever the present popular mawkish sentimental-mongers may write to the contrary, that these exhibitions,
+when happening rarely, tend, in a great measure, to restrain the passions of the evil-disposed, although some of them may
+think it bold, among their hardened associates, to turn the spectacle into a farce. I firmly believe that no human being can
+in cold blood look upon another&#8217;s death by violent means without being forced to think about it for some time, greater or
+less, according to his or her temperament.
+
+</p>
+<p>For minor offences criminals are sometimes flogged through the town. They are mounted on horseback, with their legs manacled
+or bound under the horse&#8217;s belly, and a portion of their punishment is administered at several of the most public places in
+the town, by an executioner dressed in red, and with a veil over his face. <a id="d0e1474"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1474">191</a>]</span>Thus, supposing a thief sentenced to receive a hundred lashes or blows, they would most probably be administered by twenty
+at a time, in five different places throughout the capital, proclamation being made at each place, previous to the punishment,
+of the offence and of the name of the offender, who is dressed in the ordinary mode, with a shirt and pair of trousers, and
+exposed to the full view of the attending crowd.
+
+</p>
+<p>Confinement in the jail at night, with labour in irons on the public roads during the day, is also a usual punishment; criminals
+being generally linked in pairs by a chain round the leg of each, and taken out, under a guard, to work on the streets or
+roads at Manilla, Cavite, or Zamboanga, at sunrise, and led back to jail at sunset. But as they are not forced by the soldiers
+to work much harder than they like, they take care not to injure themselves by overtasking their powers of labour, and are
+not apparently much discontented with their condition, from which I have seldom or never heard of their attempting to escape,
+although neither their food nor their lodgings in jail are very enticing; the former being bad black-looking <a id="d0e1478"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1478">192</a>]</span>rice and water, and the jail generally swarming with vermin.
+
+</p>
+<p>They appear to prefer the partial liberty of getting out of jail, and of working in the streets in chains, to the monotony
+of a residence within the walls of the prison, and the sedentary labour they might be forced to pursue there.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1482"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1482">193</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+<p>Among the amusements of the Indians the greatest is cock-fighting, for which they have a passion; and nearly every native
+throughout the islands gratifies this taste by keeping a fighting cock, which may be seen carried about with him perched on
+an arm or a shoulder, in all the pride of a favourite of its master.
+
+</p>
+<p>During Sundays and feast-days, when no work is allowed to be done, nearly the half of the native population, if able to muster
+a few rials, repair to the village cockpit, to arrange some match for their favorite fowl, on which they will sometimes stake
+large amounts, or to see the sport of their neighbours.
+<a id="d0e1490"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1490">194</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The privilege of opening a cockpit is an important source of revenue to the Government, which farms it out to the highest
+bidder, who, I believe, has the power to stop fighting for money at any place within the limits of his district other than
+the privileged arena, for an admission to which he exacts a small charge from each person, which is the mode of reimbursing
+himself for the amount paid to the Government.
+
+</p>
+<p>This place is generally a large house, constructed of <i>cana</i>, wattled like a coarse basket, and surrounded by a high paling of the same description, which forms a sort of court-yard,
+where the cocks are kept waiting their turns to come upon the stage, should their owners have succeeded in arranging a satisfactory
+match. Passing across the yard, the door of the house, within which the matches come off, stands open: after entering and
+ascending the steps, the arena is before us, surrounded by seats sloping down from the wall towards it, so that every one
+may be able distinctly to witness the event.
+
+</p>
+<p>After the owners of the contending cocks have walked into the ring and displayed them, each armed with a long and sharp steel
+spur, many critical opinions are expressed by the Indians; <a id="d0e1500"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1500">195</a>]</span>and the judgments of the old men, who are keen upon the sport, are worth hearing by a visitor.
+
+</p>
+<p>The spectators having viewed the birds carefully, the bets are made, by calling one of the men who are constantly walking
+round the outside of the arena, for the purpose of arranging the amounts of bets ventured on either of the birds. Giving him
+the money with which you back your opinion, he generally quickly finds, or may at the moment hold in his hand, the money ventured
+by some one else on the other cock, and apprises you of the arrangement. But should your cock chance to be a favourite, and
+the broker be unable to arrange an equal bet against the other, he tells you so before the set-to begins, and returns your
+money if you are not disposed to give odds.
+
+</p>
+<p>In general the conflict does not last long: in from about two to five minutes after the set-to, one or other of the birds
+is pretty sure to be either killed, or so badly wounded by the steel spur as to show he has had enough of it, and to give
+in. Until this happens, the utmost quietness is maintained by the people, and their intense interest is only shown by their
+outstretched necks <a id="d0e1506"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1506">196</a>]</span>and eager looks, as well as by their muttered exclamations at the various stages of the fight; at the end of which, of course,
+the gainers are noisy, and in high spirits at pocketing the money, which is heard clinking all round.
+
+</p>
+<p>The amount of money staked on the issue is never very large; at least, I have not seen more than eighty or a hundred dollars
+staked in any cockpit, and the usual bet is an ounce of gold, or nearly four pounds.
+
+</p>
+<p>Chance, in a great measure, appears to decide the event; as an early blow with the sharp spur is quite sufficient to cripple
+the bird which receives it so much as to determine the fate of the battle. Quickness and game no doubt tell to some extent,
+but not very much. Of course, the breeding of cocks engages a good deal of attention by those interested in the amusement;
+but with the details of it I am not acquainted.
+
+</p>
+<p>Many of the Indians, however, appear to be more fond of a good cock, and to display more anxiety about it, than would be shown
+by them to their wives and children, who are not objects of nearly so much attention.
+
+</p>
+<p>Although extravagantly fond of all games of chance, none of them appears to be so captivating <a id="d0e1516"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1516">197</a>]</span>as the cockpit, which ranks as their chief passion. Of games at cards, the principal one is <i>monte</i>, the playing of which is sometimes carried on to a great extent, which has caused such distress that the law has wisely endeavoured
+to stop the evil, by enacting severe fines and punishment against those caught playing at it. Houses suspected of carrying
+it on, are at all times subject to a visit from the alguacils, all the people found in them being carried off to jail.
+
+</p>
+<p>But notwithstanding these measures, it is found impossible to put gambling down entirely, and some of the alcaldes, knowing
+the inutility of attempting to do so, habitually give private instructions to their policemen not to hunt for people playing
+<i>monte</i>, and not to molest them if found doing so. Tresilla, tresiete, &amp;c., are names of other games at cards commonly played at
+Manilla.
+
+</p>
+<p>Billiards is also a favourite game of the Indians, whose play differs in some particulars from ours, and from the usual Spanish
+game, which is also dissimilar to ours. Tables are scattered throughout the town, entirely for the use of the native population,
+some of whom show considerable dexterity.
+<a id="d0e1528"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1528">198</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Although bull-baiting used many years since to be an amusement here, it is never heard of now, having quite gone out of fashion.
+Neither are the bull-fights, as managed in Spain, practised here, probably from the effects of the climate on the men, who
+would not much relish a combat with one of the small, but spirited and powerfully shaped bulls of the country.
+
+</p>
+<p>The considerable number of officers of the troops, and other government <i>empleados</i>, are acquisitions to the society of the place; for being principally half occupied people, they are almost obliged to have
+recourse to amusements to kill the time, which would otherwise hang very heavy on their hands; and principally to their exertions
+must we attribute the means of enjoyment, such as they are, which are now available here.
+
+</p>
+<p>There is a subscription ball-room, where assemblies are held three times a-month; at one of which there is only dancing; at
+another, performances by the amateurs of vocal and instrumental music. Some of them, having a taste that way, do wonders for
+amateurs; and after the concert, there is dancing.
+
+</p>
+<p>At the third monthly assembly, there is a <a id="d0e1540"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1540">199</a>]</span>farce or play of some sort acted by amateurs; and as the Spanish genius inclines to the buskin and the sock, they acquit themselves
+very well.
+
+</p>
+<p>To this <i>sociedad de recreo</i>, or casino, there are many subscribers, including the Governor and his family, if he has any, and all the considerable people
+of the place, who for many years kept out those of lower caste than themselves by the ballot, which is the mode of electing
+candidates, who must be introduced by two members. However, at last the funds of the society got so low, that the admission
+of many new members was requisite to bolster up the concern with their entrance-money and monthly contributions, and, of course,
+a much more indiscriminate set were admitted, than formerly used to go there, which caused one or two people to absent themselves
+from the assemblies for some time, as no one, of course, chooses to introduce his daughters among people he does not wish
+to associate with. On the whole, however, the place has benefited by the new people; that is to say, it is more gay than before
+they came, which is the chief consideration to one careless of the precise social degree of any handsome and pleasant girl
+whom he may meet at the place.
+<a id="d0e1547"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1547">200</a>]</span></p>
+<p>All the ladies sit together; and the men, who dare not, apparently, trust themselves so close to their brilliant and beautiful
+eyes, as we fancy we can do with impunity in Britain, promenade up and down the ball-room, or in one of the large ante-rooms
+contiguous to it. No doubt their tindery and inflammable temperaments, whenever love-making is concerned, has something to
+do with this arrangement; as, if a young male acquaintance of any damsel took a seat beside her, it would be certain to attract
+the papa or chaperon, to the spot, to see what was going on, as their most likely subject of conversation would have a strong
+leaning towards a flirtation, or downright love-making, at which nearly all the Spaniards are great adepts; the flowery expressions
+of their language being peculiarly suitable for such sentimental recreations.
+
+</p>
+<p>Besides the principal theatre, where Spaniards are the actors, there are two native theatres, where plays are represented
+in the Tagalog language, and written to suit their ideas of the drama; the subjects represented being principally tragedies
+connected with their historical traditions, and of their fathers&#8217; earliest connections with their European conquerors.
+<a id="d0e1552"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1552">201</a>]</span></p>
+<p>But their mode of representing these subjects is scarcely suitable to any one&#8217;s taste but their own, as the amount of vociferation,
+and drawling singing of the women who take a part in the pieces, are very disagreeable, and the noise and quantity of fighting
+with which they are always interlarded, is tiresome. Yet, strange to say, they themselves are much interested while listening
+to these absurd recitatives.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Spanish theatre is generally opened twice a-week, and one or two of the performers act very creditably. The national passion
+is for dramatic amusements; and the house, which is a large one, is usually well filled.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1557"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1557">202</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+<p>A misconception appears to exist as to the state of society at Manilla, people at a distance for the most part labouring under
+the erroneous impression that it remains stationary, and is today as much behind the rest of the world as it was thirty years
+ago; and that it can support no newspaper or other publication. Now, during my residence at Manilla, there have been various
+periodicals published daily, bi-weekly, and weekly; but at the end of last year (1850), these had all given place to one daily
+newspaper, called the <i>Diario de Manilla</i>, which being more carefully conducted than any of its predecessors, still continues to enjoy its popularity.
+
+</p>
+<p>It is under the direction of an editor, who being in his youth trained up to commercial pursuits, <a id="d0e1568"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1568">203</a>]</span>and having spent some years of his life in Great Britain in order to conduct the business of his Spanish friends, has insensibly
+acquired ideas during his residence there which are, no doubt, more exact and unprejudiced than those of the bulk of his countrymen,
+so that he understands the duties of a journalist, and manages his paper better than these things were formerly done. Of course,
+however, he must study not to trespass on the existing regulations of the censor, if he would avoid the scissors of that officer,
+whose duties are, to prevent any statement obnoxious to the powers that be from seeing the light. This, of course, is a great
+check to the spread of information, especially of a political character; and articles written and printed, have frequently
+to be suppressed in the succeeding impressions of the paper. The power is sometimes exercised when there is very little occasion
+for the interference of authority, and, of course, must very materially interfere with the mode of conducting an efficient
+newspaper.
+
+</p>
+<p>To give the censor time to examine its contents, the <i>Diario</i> is printed the afternoon preceding its publication, and is issued every day <a id="d0e1575"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1575">204</a>]</span>except Monday, thus leaving the printers free from work and at liberty on Sunday.
+
+</p>
+<p>The <i>Diario</i> has a large circulation in Manilla and the different provinces of the islands, besides having agents at Madrid, Cadiz, and
+Paris; it is also obtainable in the Havana, at Hongkong, and at Singapore.
+
+</p>
+<p>The subscription is one dollar a month, which is moderate enough; and advertisements are inserted in its columns without charge.
+
+</p>
+<p>Once a week it includes a list of the shipping in the harbour, and also of the arrivals and departures, and reports every
+morning the arrivals and cargoes of any vessels that have come in on the previous day from the provinces. It also publishes
+a weekly price-current of the produce of the country.
+
+</p>
+<p>A well-conducted periodical of this nature is of great importance in a commercial point of view, not only from the advertisements
+circulated by its means throughout the Philippines, but from the variety of facts and information which the country alcaldes
+address to the Manilla Government, in which they are required to give a list of the prices-current for the various articles
+of produce <a id="d0e1588"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1588">205</a>]</span>grown in their different provinces; a regulation which, of course, tends to keep the trade on a sound footing, and to prevent
+reckless speculation, which the want of market information usually induces.
+
+</p>
+<p>The <i>Diario</i> is delivered at the houses of Manilla subscribers at about daylight every morning, so that they may make themselves masters
+of its contents while sipping their chocolate, before engaging in the business of the day. This is no slight luxury, I assure
+the reader, and it is not at all diminished by the place being so remote from the sound of Bow-bells and the region of Cockaigne,
+although it is true that the contents of the paper are not composed of exciting parliamentary reports, or of leading articles
+equal in talent to those of the <i>Times</i> or <i>Morning Chronicle</i>.
+
+</p>
+<p>The mail bags are carried to the provinces by mounted couriers, and the north post, arriving at Manilla every Friday morning,
+brings communications from the important provinces of Bulacan, Bataan, Zambales, Pampanga, Nueva Eciga, Pangasinan, Ilocos
+(North and South), Abra, and Cagayan; and is despatched from the capital to all these districts every Monday at noon.
+<a id="d0e1603"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1603">206</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The south post, embracing the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, Mindoro, the islands of Masbate and Ticao, <a id="d0e1606"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Camanires">Camarines</span> (North and South), Albay, Samars, and Leyte, reaches Manilla every Tuesday morning, and is despatched from it in return every
+Wednesday at noon. To the arsenal of Cavite there is a daily post, excepting on Sundays; and to the islands of Visayas, the
+Marianas, and Batanes, the correspondence is forwarded by the first ships bound for any of those places, as they are obliged
+to give notice to the postmaster two days before starting for them.
+
+</p>
+<p>It would be difficult to over-estimate the advantages of this line of postal communication, which affords the native traders
+in remote places the best facilities for the prosecution of their trade in the various articles of commerce produced in the
+districts where they live.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are, of course, several things which might be improved in the administration of the post-office, as is the case in every
+country, without bringing Spain and her colonies in question; but, no doubt, these will be found out by-and-by, and an alteration
+for the better will take place.
+
+</p>
+<p>The press of Manilla is much more active than <a id="d0e1615"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1615">207</a>]</span>is commonly supposed, as, besides the <i>Diario</i>, there are several other periodicals printed in the place. Among them may be mentioned the <i>Guia de Forasteros</i>, and an <i>Almanac</i>, which is printed at the College of Santo Tomas, being entirely got up and sold by the priests of that institution, the proceeds
+being devoted to charitable purposes.
+
+</p>
+<p>Various religious and polemical works also emanate at different times from the press, all of them neatly and well printed,
+nay, highly creditable to the Indian compositors who execute them.
+
+</p>
+<p>I have frequently seen it stated in books, the authors of which should have been better informed, that no periodical publications
+exist at Manilla. Certainly there is much less appetite there for such things, than is exhibited among my own countrymen,
+whose birthright it is to grumble at the conduct of authorities, and to show up delinquencies with the most unsparing zeal,
+neither of which would be quite safe to attempt at Manilla, although it is so in Great Britain, and all her colonies and dependencies.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1630"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1630">208</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXVI.</h2>
+<p>Through ignorance and a misconception of the nature of the country, many people are in the habit of adducing the scantiness
+of manufactures among the Indians, as an evidence of their backwardness in civilization and the arts which it teaches.
+
+</p>
+<p>But this is not so in reality, for if our readers reflect on the subject a short time, it can scarcely fail to occur to them,
+that the fertility of the soil, and the abundance of primary materials, even of those made use of in the manufactories, is
+the true reason why they neglect manufactures, and turn all their attention to growing the raw produce, from which spring
+the materials for conducting them.
+
+</p>
+<p>It is this cause which makes the Americans <a id="d0e1640"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1640">209</a>]</span>send their cotton-wool to Manchester, to be there, at some thousands of miles from the place of its growth, made into cloth&#8212;and
+the shepherds of Australia to send their wool to Yorkshire for a like purpose.
+
+</p>
+<p>This appears paradoxical, but it is true. A day&#8217;s labour on a fertile tropical soil is better recompensed when it is directed
+to grow cotton, than it would be, were the same labour applied to weaving the wool into cloth; for although this climate is
+suitable for the growth of cotton in the fields, it does not at all follow that it is so for weaving cloth, as has been proved
+to be the case in the United States.
+
+</p>
+<p>In that country, where manufacturing industry has so much energy of character in those carrying it on to back it up, and to
+secure a satisfactory result, it appears very strange that we should be able to beat them in the manufacture of their own
+produce.
+
+</p>
+<p>But although many efforts have repeatedly been made by speculative and sanguine men to weave all the descriptions of cotton
+cloth made in Great Britain by the power-loom, they have never been able to do so in the United States. Even when they have
+actually carried machinery <a id="d0e1648"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1648">210</a>]</span>and men from Manchester to work it, across the Atlantic, the produce of the looms has been of a different quality of cloth
+to that which the same cotton yarn would have produced by the same machinery in Great Britain. This can only be accounted
+for, I believe, by estimating the effects of climate. The moisture of the atmosphere, the difference of water, and other causes,
+have been assigned as the cause of this very remarkable circumstance, and perhaps some, or all of them, have their share in
+producing it.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the Philippines, the natural shrewdness of the people, who show considerable aptitude in the arts which experience has
+taught them will pay them best, is demonstrated by the neatness of execution which characterises many of their handiworks,
+demanding no small portion of skill, care, and perseverance; the elaborate execution of the gold ornaments worn by the women
+frequently exhibiting signs, in a very high degree, of skilful and neat workmanship.
+
+</p>
+<p>I have seen chains, &amp;c., of native make, quite as beautifully and as curiously worked as any I have seen in China, where those
+ornaments are made in more perfection than the European gold or silversmiths have as yet been able to attain.
+<a id="d0e1654"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1654">211</a>]</span></p>
+<p>But probably the pi&ntilde;a cloth manufactured in the Philippines, is the best known of all the native productions, and it is a
+very notable instance of their advance in the manufacturing arts.
+
+</p>
+<p>There is perhaps no more curious, beautiful, and delicate specimen of manufactures produced in any country. It varies in price
+according to texture and quality, ladies&#8217; dresses of it costing as low as twenty dollars for a bastard sort of cloth, and
+as high as fifteen hundred dollars for a finely-worked dress. The common coarse sort used by the natives for making shirts
+costs them from four to ten dollars a shirt.
+
+</p>
+<p>The colour of the coarser sorts is not, however, good; and the high price of the finer descriptions prevents its becoming
+generally a lady&#8217;s dress; and the inferior sorts are not much prized, chiefly because of the yellowish tinge of the white
+cloth. The fabric is exceedingly strong, and, I have been informed, rather improves in colour after every successive washing.
+
+</p>
+<p>Pi&ntilde;a handkerchiefs and scarfs are in very general use by the Manilla ladies, although they are rather expensive; the price
+of the former, when of good quality, being from about five to <a id="d0e1663"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1663">212</a>]</span>ten pounds sterling each, while for a scarf of average quality and colour about thirty pounds is paid. The coarser descriptions
+can be had for much less money than the sums mentioned; and the finest qualities would cost from three to four times more
+than the amounts I have set down.
+
+</p>
+<p>Besides the pi&ntilde;a there is also a sort of cloth made by the natives called jus&egrave; (pronounced hus&egrave;), or siriamaio, which makes
+very beautiful dresses for ladies. It is manufactured from a thread obtained from the fibres of a particular sort of plantain
+tree, which is slightly mixed with pine-apple thread; and the fabric produced from both of these is very beautiful, being
+fine and transparent, and looking, to the unaccustomed eye, finer than the ordinary sort of pi&ntilde;a cloth.
+
+</p>
+<p>It can be made of any pattern, and is generally striped or checked with coloured threads of silk mingled with the other two
+descriptions.
+
+</p>
+<p>The manufacture of both these articles is carried on to a small extent in the immediate neighbourhood of Manilla; but in the
+provinces of Yloylo and Camarines the best jus&egrave; is produced, the price of which is very much lower than pi&ntilde;a, as a lady&#8217;s
+dress of it may be got at from seven to <a id="d0e1671"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1671">213</a>]</span>twenty dollars; and for the latter amount a very handsome one would be obtained.
+
+</p>
+<p>In addition to these manufactures, which the natives have appropriated and made their own, from the greater facilities found
+in the Philippines than in other places less adapted by nature for their prosecution, the Government has been at some pains
+to force them to engage in the manufacture of cotton yarn and cloth by imposing high duties on those descriptions of foreign
+manufactured goods most suitable for the native dress, either from their partiality to particular colours, or from other causes.
+
+</p>
+<p>And for this reason solely a number of kambayas of blue and white checks are made in the country by the native hand-loom,
+these colours being in general favourite ones of the Indians; the custom-house duty on such goods, and on other favourite
+colours, being 15 and 25 per cent., according to the flag of the vessel importing them; the Spaniards guarding their own shipping,
+and securing to it a monopoly of the carrying trade by that difference of the import duty. Should these goods come from Madras,
+which is their native country, the duty charged on them is 20 and even 30 per cent.
+<a id="d0e1677"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1677">214</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Although these rates of duty may be considered high enough, they are in reality very much more than that per-centage, because
+the duty is charged by the authorities on a very high fixed valuation, or on the <i>ad valorem</i> principle, which actually is equivalent to increasing the rates of duty, were that only charged upon the actual market price.
+Since the beginning of this year (1851), however, I understand some changes have been made in the tariff by altering the valuations
+of goods.
+
+</p>
+<p>Kambayas are used as sayas, or outer petticoats, by the native or Mestiza girls, and are generally made of cotton cloth, although,
+of late, jus&egrave; and silk sayas appear to be more generally worn than they used to be.
+
+</p>
+<p>Tapiz of silk and cotton is also manufactured in the country. This piece of dress is used as a sort of shawl, and is wrapped
+tightly round the loins and waist, above the saya, being generally a black or dark blue ground, with narrow white stripes
+upon it, which, when the garment is worn, encircles the body.
+
+</p>
+<p>The great advantage which the natives have over foreign manufacturers of these coloured cloths consists not so much in the
+duty, although that is an immense protection, as in the quickness <a id="d0e1689"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1689">215</a>]</span>with which they are able to meet the changes of taste in the patterns and designs of such fancy goods. For it is evident that
+before designs of new styles can reach Great Britain, and the goods be manufactured there, and shipped off to Manilla, many
+months must elapse, during which the native manufacturers have been supplying the market with these new and approved styles
+of goods, and of course reaping all the advantages of an active demand, exceeding the supply, by the high prices obtainable
+for the new designs. For the market of Manilla varies as much, and the tastes of the people are as inconstant and capricious
+with regard to their dress, as the natives of almost any country can be.
+
+</p>
+<p>It will scarcely be believed, that in this remote quarter of Asia, many of the natives of the country are as much <i>petits ma&icirc;tres</i> in their own way, as a gallant of the Tuileries or of St. James&#8217;s. It would astonish most people to see some of these poor-looking
+Indians, or Mestizos, wearing a jewel of the value of four or five hundred dollars in the breast of their shirts, or in a
+ring on their fingers.
+
+</p>
+<p>No doubt some of them prefer keeping their money in this way, as it is easily transportable, <a id="d0e1698"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1698">216</a>]</span>and is always about their persons, to leaving their dollars or gold ounces concealed somewhere about their houses, from which
+they may frequently be obliged to be absent. Though, as it is a common custom for the natives to have a piece of bamboo in
+which to deposit their ready-money, and as there is so much bamboo work about the house, of course it is not very difficult
+for them to select one piece, which from its being out of the way, and rather unapproachable, renders it a secure deposit
+for their hoards.
+
+</p>
+<p>Towels, napkins, and table-cloths, are also manufactured by them, from the cotton of the country, and Governor Enrile taught
+some of their weavers how to make canvas from cotton. It is now very extensively used by the native shipping, and bears the
+name of the distinguished and philanthropic individual who taught them how to make it, being known by the name of <i>Lona de Enrile</i>, which name may it long bear, and remain as the most honourable memento any governor could leave behind him, of his beneficent
+and wise interest in the affairs and administration of an important colony.
+
+</p>
+<p>At several places in Luzon, and in Cebu, &amp;c., the natives make a species of cloth from the <a id="d0e1707"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1707">217</a>]</span>plantain-tree, known by the names of <i>Medrinaque</i> and <i>Guiara</i> cloths. The former description is in the greatest consumption, being stouter and more valuable than the other sort, and is
+mostly all bought up by the natives themselves, although a small portion of it is also exported.
+
+</p>
+<p>The bulk of all the <i>Medrinaque</i> exported goes to the United States, to the extent of about 30,000 pieces annually; and sometimes as much as double that quantity
+is sent, although last year there were only about 23,000 pieces purchased for that market, a large quantity having gone to
+Europe, which is a novel feature of the trade in the article.
+
+</p>
+<p>Although the silkworm is bred to some small extent in the country, the silk manufacture is not extensively carried on, as
+the market can so easily and quickly be supplied from China with any description of goods in demand. Some articles of dress
+are, however, successfully made by the Indians, to oppose the China silks in the market, such as tapiz for the women, and
+panjamas for the men.
+
+</p>
+<p>In various parts of the country, the manufacture of earthenware is pursued to a small extent. <a id="d0e1724"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1724">218</a>]</span>It is generally of a very coarse description for cooking purposes, water-jugs, &amp;c., and does not interfere with the sale of
+the finer China ware, with which the natives are supplied for most of their household purposes by the Chinese dealers in the
+article, that of China make being very much finer than any they have as yet produced in the country.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the colours and patterns of their dresses the natives are great dandies; the women, as usual, being more particular in
+those affairs than the men. Very seldom, indeed, does a native Indian or Mestiza beauty sport the same saya for two gala days
+consecutively. And a very large proportion of their earnings are spent in self-adornment, their <i>tanpipes</i>, or wardrobes, being very well supplied with clothes, all of them of different patterns. Blue and purple appear to be the
+colours most admired, because, although the tastes and caprices of the people may vary in an infinite degree as to the patterns
+or styles of their dresses, they do not differ much in their choice of the colours which compose them. A dark complexioned
+beauty is never improved by a yellow dress; and any woman at all old or ugly <a id="d0e1731"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1731">219</a>]</span>looks hideous indeed when dressed in that colour. Apparently the Government were not ignorant of this when they imposed a
+heavy duty on blue, purple, or white articles of dress, and allowed yellow and other colours disliked by the natives to come
+into the country on the payment of a less duty. They have even gone the length of allowing yellow cotton twist of foreign
+manufacture to be imported duty free.
+
+</p>
+<p>Truly this was very cunning of them&#8212;this apparent liberality to a foreign nation, ignorant that the colour would scarcely
+ever be used. Its affected moderation would most certainly tend to stop any complaints which might be made about the high
+duties imposed on our manufactures imported into the colony.
+
+</p>
+<p>But perhaps the authorities had some design on the native beauties, when they held out such an inducement for them to wear
+unbecoming dresses. Who can say if the official who drew the scheme up had not a wife, jealous of the influence of some dark
+Indian beauty, to whom she thus held out the inducement of cheap dress, to disarm the power of her charms! Or, it may be,
+as the priests are at the bottom of most things in Spain, who can tell but their influence was exerted to <a id="d0e1737"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1737">220</a>]</span>get this law passed in the pious hope of inducing those feelings of self-abasement and humility which the sense of being ugly,
+or even plain-looking, generally induces among the fair?
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1739"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1739">221</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXVII.</h2>
+<p>Besides those already mentioned, there are several other branches of manufacture successfully pursued in different places
+throughout the country, although none of them are very extensive.
+
+</p>
+<p>Among others, that of hat-making may be mentioned. It is practised principally at a village called Balignat, in the province
+of Bulacan; and is also carried on to a smaller extent in <a id="d0e1747"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Pangasnian">Pangasinan</span>, Camarines, and Yloylo.
+
+</p>
+<p>The hats are made from the cane, the fibres of which, employed in their construction, very much resemble the materials of
+those made at Leghorn, of straw. They are made both black and white, and are used almost universally by the native population,
+at times when the heat of the sun does not require the <i>salacod</i> as a protection to the <a id="d0e1755"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1755">222</a>]</span>head. These are made of cane also, but are much thicker, heavier, and wider, and are shaped like a flat cone, so that the
+rays of the sunbeams are deflected from it, in place of being concentrated on the brain, as they are by the shape of the European
+hat.
+
+</p>
+<p>A large number of Balignat hats are exported to the Australian colonies, and to China and Singapore, as well as a few to the
+United States.
+
+</p>
+<p>Cigar cases, or covers, are made to a small extent in the neighbourhood of Manilla, and most of the patterns used for them
+are pretty, gay-looking affairs. The fineness of these pouches or cases varies to an almost infinite extent, and so does the
+price they sell at.
+
+</p>
+<p>The mats on which the natives all sleep are largely manufactured, and employ a great number of people, as everybody throughout
+the island uses one or more of them. Some of those made in Laguna province are finer and better finished than any others I
+have seen elsewhere. They are plain or coloured, and of all patterns, and could be manufactured to any degree of fineness,
+according to the price promised to the workmen.
+
+</p>
+<p>Ropemaking is extensively carried on; the <a id="d0e1765"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1765">223</a>]</span>best cordage manufactured in the islands being made from the fibres of the plantain-tree, which is known in commerce by the
+name of Manilla hemp.
+
+</p>
+<p>At Santa Mesa, in the neighbourhood of Manilla, the rope is spun up by the aid of steam and good machinery, established there
+for the purpose, and still carried on by an old shipmaster, who produces by far the best rope of all that is made. It is also
+manufactured in several other places by the common hand-spun process, but from being unequally twisted when made by the hand,
+it is very much inferior to what has been subjected in its manufacture to the uniform steadiness of pull which the regularity
+of the steam machinery occasions, all of which is consequently much more suited to stand a heavy strain, from being twisted
+by it. The price of this rope is altogether dependent on the price of hemp, as the value of the labour employed seldom or
+never varies, although the raw material of which it is composed constantly does; the usual addition made to the current price
+of hemp being four dollars a pecul of 140 lbs. English, for the machine-made rope, generally known as &#8220;Keating&#8217;s patent cordage,&#8221;
+supposing the material so <a id="d0e1769"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1769">224</a>]</span>spun to be converted into an assorted lot of from one to six-inch cordage.
+
+</p>
+<p>The hemp employed in the manufacture of the patent cordage is generally selected for its length of fibre, and lightness or
+whiteness of colour; and when whale-lines are made, only the very finest lots of hemp procurable at the time are used; but
+the charge for spinning them is increased to six dollars a pecul, the extra labour being so considerable, that even with the
+additional charge, the maker, Mr. Keating, informed me that he was much better recompensed by the larger sizes of the rope
+he spun than by these.
+
+</p>
+<p>Bale or wool lashing is also made to a small extent for shipment to Sydney, &amp;c.; the quality of the hemp used in making it
+being of an inferior description, and of a brownish colour. As it is very much more loosely twisted than any other descriptions
+of rope made here, the charge for spinning it is reduced to two dollars per pecul, and the cost of it will be that amount
+added to the price of hemp at the time of its manufacture.
+
+</p>
+<p>The hand-spun rope never sells so well as that made by machinery, and is usually obtainable at from one to two dollars per
+pecul less than the latter, according as it is well or ill spun.
+<a id="d0e1777"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1777">225</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The export of rope varies from about 9,000 to 15,000 peculs annually; by much the largest quantity usually going to the United
+States, although there are considerable shipments to the Australian colonies, China, Singapore, and Europe. A large quantity
+of it is also taken by vessels visiting the port, for their own use.
+
+</p>
+<p>The manufacture is encouraged by its freedom from any export duty, to which hemp exported in an unmanufactured state is subject,
+to the extent of 2 per cent.
+
+</p>
+<p>Besides this cordage, there is another sort of rope made at the Islan de Negros, from a dark-coloured plant,&#8212;a description of rush,&#8212;which is found growing there in abundance; and as it is not damaged by
+exposure to the influence of water, it is very extensively used by the native coasting-vessels of small size for cables, for
+which it is found to answer very well.
+
+</p>
+<p>Soap is made to a small extent at Quiapo, in Manilla; and is, I understand, shipped to Sooloo and Singapore for sale. But
+it is not consumed to any great extent in the Philippines, except for washing clothes, &amp;c., the natives preferring to employ
+a red-coloured root, called <i>gogo</i>, for their own personal ablutions.
+<a id="d0e1792"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1792">226</a>]</span></p>
+<p>This root may be said to be a sort of natural soap, as it serves the same purposes. After being steeped in water for a few
+minutes, if the water be violently agitated, or if the <i>gogo</i> be rubbed between the hands in the water, a white foam is produced, which exactly resembles soap bubbles, and assists the
+purification of the skin even better than soap does, being assisted by the fibres of the root, which are usually made to do
+the duty of a flesh-brush in the bath. When using it, however, it should not be allowed to get into the eyes, as any water
+impregnated with its bubbles, will inflame them very severely.
+
+</p>
+<p>So far as I recollect, those that I have quoted are the most important articles manufactured in the country, and they are
+more numerous and important, considering the state of society in Manilla, than might be looked for. They well exemplify the
+ingenuity of the people, which is very much more lively than that of any other Oriental nation within the limits of the Indian
+Archipelago.
+
+</p>
+<p>Although cigars may be considered as manufacture, I propose classing them with tobacco, which will be found in the list of
+the agricultural produce of the islands.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1802"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1802">227</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2>
+<p>The import trade of Manilla is almost entirely in the hands of the British merchants established there, so far as the great
+staple articles of manufactured goods are concerned; although a quantity is regularly furnished to supply the demands of the
+market by the Chinese, whose earthenware, iron cooking utensils, silks, cloths, and curiosities, are very plentiful at Manilla,
+and are indeed obtainable over all the country without much difficulty.
+
+</p>
+<p>Among the produce of our looms, especially those of Manchester and Glasgow, which are at all times saleable here, may be mentioned
+shirtings, both white and grey, long-cloths, domestics, drills, cambrics, jaconets, twills, white and printed, <a id="d0e1810"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: bobbinnet">bobbinet</span>, gimp lace, cotton velvet, <a id="d0e1813"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1813">228</a>]</span>sewing thread, cotton twist of certain colours, principally Turkey red, Turkey red cloth, prints of various sorts, chiefly
+Bengal stripes, furniture prints, and Turkey red chintz prints, kambayas, and ginghams, which being cheaper, are gradually
+taking the place of kambayas; indigo blue checks, imitation <a id="d0e1815"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: pina">pi&ntilde;a</span> cloth, blue and striped chambrays, grandrills, trouser stuffs of various sorts, chiefly of cotton, and mixed cotton and wool;
+handkerchiefs of many descriptions, known as Kambaya handkerchiefs, Turkey red bandanas, fancy printed, light ground checked
+handkerchiefs, Scotch cambric handkerchiefs, &amp;c.; broad-cloth, cubicoes, lastings, orleans, gambroons, long ells, camlets,
+carriage lace, both broad and narrow, canvas, cordage, iron, lead, spelter, steel, cutlery, ironmongery, earthenware, glassware,
+umbrellas and parasols of cotton and silk, &amp;c., as well as India beer, which, though last mentioned, is not the common sort
+of beer, nor the least profitable or pleasant of them all.
+
+</p>
+<p>It may be well to mention here, that the provincial traders generally arrive at Manilla in the month of November, soon after
+the rains have ceased, although they sometimes do not make their appearance till December, when they set <a id="d0e1820"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1820">229</a>]</span>about making their purchases, and returning to their places of abode as quickly as possible, to sell the merchandize they
+take with them. If they are successful, and drive a prosperous trade, which is regulated by a variety of accidents, the principal
+features affecting it being probably the success of the rice crop, they then write to their agents in Manilla to continue
+purchases of the goods which they find to be of the most saleable descriptions in their different districts, so that it is
+not until they have ascertained the temper of the market, during the sale of their first lots, that their largest purchases
+begin to be made, through their agents at Manilla, who, from this circumstance, usually do their most extensive business during
+the months of February, March, and April; and, in consequence, these months may be considered as the best seasons of the year
+for the sale of piece goods in that market.
+
+</p>
+<p>The rainy season commencing in June, puts a stop to the activity of trade, which usually goes on until its near approach.
+For although there is a demand throughout the year for plain cottons, and similar articles of general use, the trade in coloured
+goods is almost suspended during the continuance of wet weather, and as <a id="d0e1824"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1824">230</a>]</span>the traffic in kambayas, ginghams, handkerchiefs and all other coloured and fancy goods, is by very much the most important
+description of trade carried on at Manilla, the commerce of the place languishes considerably during the continuance of the
+rainy season.
+
+</p>
+<p>The goods imported from the Peninsula are of very small value, consisting principally of wines, olive oil, and eatables of
+various descriptions; for wherever a Spaniard lives, he would be quite unhappy without his <i>garbanzos</i> or <i>frijoles</i>.
+
+</p>
+<p>From Germany and France also various descriptions of manufactures are sent, such as cutlery, toys, glass, furniture, pictures,
+&amp;c., &amp;c., in fine, an endless catalogue of small wares of that description. Having never seen any complete statement of the
+quantity, value, or proper description of the merchandise imported into the Manilla market, on which I should be inclined
+to place any reliance, owing to the absolute impossibility of collecting correct statistical information of the sort at that
+place, I do not presume to furnish such to the reader, even with that explanation.
+
+</p>
+<p>The goods imported from Liverpool or Glasgow, from which very large quantities of coloured <a id="d0e1838"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1838">231</a>]</span>goods are sent here, are always shipped in Spanish vessels at a very high rate of freight, being generally about double what
+British ships would be glad to take them for, did not the differential duties in favour of the Spanish flag put all this carrying
+business beyond their reach. A very large&#8212;in fact, probably by much the greatest&#8212;quantity of goods, is in consequence of this
+navigation law, carried by British shipping from our seaports at home to Singapore and Hong Kong, where, after having to stand
+several charges for coolie hire, landing, storing, and warehouse rent, till such time as a disengaged Spanish vessel for Manilla
+makes her appearance, and the number of goods at either of these intermediate ports accumulates in sufficient quantity to
+form a cargo to load her, they have to remain of course at a considerable loss, not only of the interest of money locked up
+in them, but besides the new charges for freight, insurance, &amp;c., which must be incurred upon them, when transhipped to the
+place of their destination.
+
+</p>
+<p>In order further to protect their own shipping against the competition of other countries, they hold out the inducement to
+merchants exporting manufactures to Manilla, to embark them in a <a id="d0e1842"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1842">232</a>]</span>Spanish ship in Europe, by making the duties less on the goods so imported, to those merely brought from a short distance
+from our settlements in the neighbourhood of Manilla. The following are the rates:&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<p>When coming in a Spanish vessel direct from Europe, they pay 7 per cent.
+
+</p>
+<p>When coming from Singapore, their voyages to that place and back again, occupying about three months, including the time the
+vessel is in that port,&#8212;as although the monsoon is fair one way, it is certain to be opposed to the ship on the other, except
+just at the time of its turning,&#8212;goods from it pay 8 per cent.
+
+</p>
+<p>When coming from Hong Kong, to and from which place the monsoons are equally favourable at all times of the year, and the
+usual average voyage of Spanish ships is about ten days either going or coming, they pay 9 per cent.
+
+</p>
+<p>These regulations are hard enough on our shipowners, whose vessels, going over to Manilla to load cargo there for all parts
+of the world, seldom or never can procure any freight to that place; or if they do, it is only to a very insignificant amount,
+only consisting of something which the owner is in a hurry for, and is willing <a id="d0e1852"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1852">233</a>]</span>to pay the large differential duty upon, to get it quickly, which of course is a case of very rare occurrence. But to prevent
+the frequent occurrence of this, any foreign ship bringing no more than even one small package of inward cargo, is required
+to pay heavier port charges than she would do if coming in without it.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1854"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1854">234</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXIX.</h2>
+<p>Besides the sale of foreign manufactures and merchandise in the Philippines, there exists a great outlet for it in the islands
+of Sooloo and Mindanao, although in the present state of society in those islands, where the insecurity of life and property
+is very great, the natural advantages of these countries have not been at all adequately developed. In front of Zamboanga,
+the last town towards the south which recognizes the authority of the Government of Manilla, is situated the island of Sooloo,
+which, although not of great size, is the centre of an active trade during certain months of every year, as great numbers
+of the natives of the neighbouring islands frequent it at those seasons, in order to dispose of the produce of their fisheries
+or to sell the slaves whom they have kidnapped or captured during their piratical <a id="d0e1860"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1860">235</a>]</span>cruizes and attacks on their neighbours, if at war with them, as some of them usually are with each other. From Manilla some
+small vessels are annually fitted out for the trade, which is nearly altogether in the hands of the Chinese dealers, as no
+persons except themselves would stand the bad treatment they are subjected to by the authorities of the place; the character
+of the Celestial people leading them to suffer any amount of bad usage provided they are paid for it, or can make money by
+it, which they somehow manage to do, even in Sooloo, although they are exposed to the almost unlimited plunder and extortion
+of the Sultan and Datos, or native chiefs, who, on the least occasion, or pretext for it, capture and enslave or confine them,
+only allowing these unfortunates to regain their very unstable liberty by presents or extortionate bribes.
+
+</p>
+<p>The vessels engaged in the trade, being brigs or schooners, commonly start from Manilla in March or April for <a id="d0e1864"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Autique">Antique</span>, Yloylo, or other places, where they can complete a Sooloo cargo, after doing which they steer for Zamboanga, to report their
+cargoes and provide themselves with passports at the custom-house there, should they not have done so at Manilla.
+<a id="d0e1867"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1867">236</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It is, however, only within these few years that these facilities have been given to those engaged in the trade, as formerly
+the colonial ships were forbidden, under a heavy penalty, to touch at any place in the Philippines after clearing out for
+Sooloo from Manilla. In spite of this law, however, few of those engaged in the trade had virtue sufficient to obey it, and
+pass these places by, when it was so very much to their interest to complete their cargoes there, which they could not do
+elsewhere nearly so advantageously. And the only consequence of this absurd old prohibition against their doing so, was to
+involve many of them in long-pending and expensive lawsuits, which have often ruined prosperous men.
+
+</p>
+<p>Besides those <i>wise</i> regulations, there existed some other forms equally sensible. For instance, the traders of Bisayao province, who send several
+small craft to Sooloo, which they are close to, were compelled to make a tedious voyage to Manilla against the monsoon, in
+order that they might report their cargo for Sooloo and get out passes, after which they had to return all the way back again,
+and at length were at liberty to steer for Sooloo.
+<a id="d0e1875"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1875">237</a>]</span></p>
+<p>However, these foolish restrictions were at length put a stop to, and the trade encouraged, by the Government establishing
+a custom-house at Zamboanga, where there is at all times a considerable military force.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Sultan appears to be the most powerful nobleman in the country, rather than the sovereign monarch of it. For although
+the chiefs of the islands, or Datos, usually acquiesce in appearance to his will, they do so more from fear of his power at
+the moment than with any idea of his legitimate authority, and in effect they very seldom comply with his decrees.
+
+</p>
+<p>The entire people are slaves owned by the Sultan and these Datos, who exercise over the unfortunate wretches the worst species
+of tyrannical power; for as these nobles or <i>reguli</i> are subject to no law but there own caprice, if any slave displeases his master, he can, without the slightest fear of having
+to give any account of the circumstance to a living soul, draw his kris, and murder the slave. Of course by so doing, however,
+he impoverishes himself, as he loses the market price of the day for a slave; or should he murder a slave belonging to some
+one else, a Dato is only expected to pay the amount he was <a id="d0e1885"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1885">238</a>]</span>considered worth by his master, or to give another one of his own in exchange for him.
+
+</p>
+<p>But, notwithstanding all the insecurity of life and property, the Chinese annually resort to Sooloo in pursuit of gain, and
+occasionally as many as eight small vessels are seen there at a time, during the busy seasons, for trade, just after the changes
+of the monsoon.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some of these Chinamen marry and remain in the country, although every now and then some of them are obliged to flee from
+it to the Philippines, where the Spanish flag protects them against their tyrannical and barbarous pillagers; for as there
+is no law to appeal to as a protection against the chiefs, they are quite at their mercy. The Datos themselves decide their
+quarrels and disputes with each other, by arming and assembling all their slaves and those of their friends who are willing
+to help them, and fight it out; but should their disputes run very high, or the feud last for any length of time, some powerful
+Dato, or the Sultan himself, interferes, and decides it finally by obliging both parties to keep the peace.
+
+</p>
+<p>The footing on which the trade is carried on with Sooloo is rather a strange one; although <a id="d0e1893"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1893">239</a>]</span>regulations have at various times been arranged between the Spanish government and that court, by which, although the Sultan
+has formally promised to give his guarantee that all goods sold by the traders from the Philippines to the Datos shall be
+paid for, yet there are very few of the traders at Manilla who consider the pledge of his Highness as of much importance,
+as it is usually only redeemed when his own particular interest requires it. He is, in truth, generally absolutely unable
+to make the nobles fulfil their contracts, they being as a body very much more powerful than he is. There being little or
+no money in Sooloo, the trade carried on by the Chinese supercargos of the ships frequenting the port is principally transacted
+by barter, they giving their manufactures for the produce of their fishery, &amp;c., and for edible birds&#8217;-nests, tortoise-shell,
+beche de mer, mother-of-pearl shell, wax, gold-dust, pearls, &amp;c.
+
+</p>
+<p>The profits of those engaged in this trade are very variable, for although their goods are all disposed of apparently at enormous
+prices, yet there are so many of them delivered to powerful chiefs, or to the Sultan, as presents, or sold to these dignitaries
+without the traders ever being <a id="d0e1897"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1897">240</a>]</span>able to get paid for them, that in reality the profit of the voyage may he scanty enough, although, were the guarantee of
+the prince to the Manilla government fulfilled, they might he very large if the prices at which they had been sold were actually
+paid to them.
+
+</p>
+<p>If the debts of the Datos are not paid off at once they are allowed to stand over for another year, at which distance of time
+they are very seldom recoverable, good memories being very seldom met with there.
+
+</p>
+<p>When the result of an adventure is good, the traders look upon these presents and bad debts as necessary expenses incurred
+to conciliate the authorities of the place, without whose good-will they would be quite unable to prosecute the trade, and
+in this sort of commerce the Chinese are adepts, although no Europeans could manage it, or would carry it on while upon such
+a footing.
+
+</p>
+<p>The ships most suited for the trade are small vessels, of about 200 tons, and their cargoes consist of an infinite variety
+of goods, each lot being generally of small value. The invoices of a cargo usually cover many pages of paper, and it is no
+easy matter to make them up without the assistance <a id="d0e1905"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1905">241</a>]</span>of intelligent Chinese, who have themselves been engaged in the traffic, and are well acquainted with the place and the people
+to be dealt with.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some of the principal cotton manufactures sent to that market from Manilla consist of chintz prints, jaconets and mulls, white
+shirtings, cambrics, bandana, kambaya, and other descriptions of handkerchiefs; also, iron and hardware, glassware, coarse
+China earthenware, silk, cloths, copper work, &amp;c.
+
+</p>
+<p>Ships are in the habit of touching at some port of the Philippines, generally the Island of Panay, there to load and fill
+up with rice, sugar, tobacco, oil, and several other articles in small quantities. Rice is generally taken from its being
+always in demand by the Sooloomen, whose habits and feelings little suit them for its production, even when the nature of
+the country admits of its being grown. The Chinese usually take down a large quantity of a kind of cloth made in their own
+country, which habit has substituted for money, a piece of it of the usual size being always reckoned as a dollar.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Sooloomen pay for their purchases in various articles, of which the edible birds&#8217;-nests are the most valuable. They are
+classified by <a id="d0e1913"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1913">242</a>]</span>the traders as of two sorts: white, and feathered; of which, the first sort is the most valuable, being generally worth about
+its weight in silver, or if very good, a little more; but should its colour tend to a red or darkish tinge, it is depreciated
+in value and is not worth so much.
+
+</p>
+<p>The feathered sort, called so because the edible substance, of which the Chinamen make soup, is covered by the birds&#8217; down
+and feathers, is very much lower in price than the white kind, being worth nearly two dollars a pound, or I believe it is
+generally roughly taken as being only about one-tenth part as valuable as the white.
+
+</p>
+<p>Tortoise-shell they collect and sell at very high prices, the bulk of it going over to supply the China market with that article,
+a small quantity only being annually sent to Europe.
+
+</p>
+<p>B&ecirc;che de mer, or tripang, is a sort of fish or sea-slug, found on the coral reefs, &amp;c., of the neighbourhood, which, when
+cured and dried, is generally shaped something like a cucumber.
+
+</p>
+<p>It is minced down into a sort of thick soup by the Chinese, who are extremely fond of it,&#8212;and indeed with some reason, as
+when well cooked by a Chinaman, who understands the culinary art, the tripang is a capital dish, and is rather a <a id="d0e1923"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1923">243</a>]</span>favourite among many of the Europeans at Manilla.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are thirty-three different varieties enumerated by the Chinese traders and others skilled in its classification; for
+being brought to Manilla in large quantities for that purpose, for the China market, it has become a peculiar business of
+itself by the dealers in it, and varies in price, according to quality, from fifteen to thirty dollars per pecul of 140 lbs.
+English.
+
+</p>
+<p>The slug, when dried, is an ugly looking, dirty brown-coloured substance, very hard and rigid until softened by water and
+a very lengthened process of cookery, after which it becomes soft and mucilaginous.
+
+</p>
+<p>Sometimes the slugs are found nearly two feet in length, but they are generally very much smaller, and perhaps about eight
+inches might be the usual size of those I have seen, their shape, as before mentioned, strongly resembling a cucumber. After
+being taken by the fisherman they are gutted, and then cured by exposure to the rays of the sun, after which they are smoked&#8212;over
+a fire, I believe&#8212;when the curing process is completed.
+
+</p>
+<p>Shark fins, and the muscles of deer, are also exposed for sale by the Sooloo people to their <a id="d0e1933"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1933">244</a>]</span>Chinese visitors, by whom they are eagerly purchased for their countrymen&#8217;s cookery, both of these articles being very favourite
+delicacies. The first I have never tasted, although the flesh of a shark, if cut from some particular parts of his body, is
+far from being bad or unsavoury, if dressed by a China cook. As for the sinews of deer, they are very good, and occasionally
+met with at Manilla on the tables of Europeans who enjoy the reputation of having good palates.
+
+</p>
+<p>Mother-of-pearl shell is so well known in Europe, that it is quite unnecessary to remark upon it, more than that those coming
+from Sooloo are by much the finest and largest shells of any hitherto known in commerce, being superior to those coming from
+the Persian Gulf.
+
+</p>
+<p>Pearls are also brought from Sooloo, but they are seldom of any great size or value.
+
+</p>
+<p>Gold is brought to Manilla from the same place, both in dust and in small bars, but not in any great quantity.
+
+</p>
+<p>The ships engaged in this trade are generally absent about six months from Manilla, which they leave in March or April, and
+return to, after coasting about and disposing of all their cargoes, in September or October; no new <a id="d0e1943"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1943">245</a>]</span>voyages being undertaken by them until the following year.
+
+</p>
+<p>During June and July, the most active trade is said to be carried on, as the number of traders annually frequenting the island
+from those in the neighbourhood, is much greater than at other times.
+
+</p>
+<p>Besides the trade with Sooloo, a ship is absent nearly every year to Ternate, and other places of the Moluccas, where they
+usually manage to get their goods ashore, without paying the heavy duties which the Dutch have imposed upon them. The months
+of December or January being the usual time for starting for the Moluccas, these traders generally begin the busy season at
+Manilla by the purchase of grey shirtings and domestics, by adding which to goods very similar to those suited for Sooloo,
+they are enabled to have two strings to their bow, should the prices in the Moluccas be low; as they can, in that case, stand
+over to Sooloo in June, when they are usually able to dispose of their investments.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1949"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1949">246</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXX.</h2>
+<p>The insolence of the Sooloo men has at various times drawn down on them the wrath of the Spanish authorities, who, in 1848,
+and also shortly after I left Manilla, towards the end of 1850, were making arrangements for punishing them, as they afterwards
+did, with some severity, about the beginning of this year.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Datos, and their families, are like the old Danes, or Norsemen, born to be seamen; and the barbarous state of their native
+country preventing the establishment of a mercantile marine, their energies have marked out a scheme of warlike adventure
+on the sea, to succeed in which their natural quickness and duplicity of character eminently qualify them.
+<a id="d0e1957"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1957">247</a>]</span></p>
+<p>A young Sooloo chief, whose ambitious or restless temper will not permit him to remain an idle man at home, where his passions
+for cruelty and voluptuous excess could scarcely fail to ruin him in a few years&#8212;surrounded as he is there by slavish dependents,
+and fearless of any higher power, whose authority might act as a check on his temper, or force him to control his passions&#8212;finds
+that the activity of his mind and body demand more scope for excitement than exists at home; and having a bias for the sea,
+he becomes a pirate chief, and scours the neighbouring waters in search of honour as well as gain. Under proper influences
+these men might be taught to divert their roving propensities into more peaceful channels. Fitting out large and fast-sailing
+proas, manned by their slaves, and officered by kinsmen, their warlike excursions take a wide range, and on some occasions
+their audacity has led them up even to the Bay of Manilla, landing on the shores of which, they have plundered the people,
+and carried off some of them to increase the number of their slaves, who constitute their principal wealth and power&#8212;daring
+to do this when so near as to be almost under the very <a id="d0e1960"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1960">248</a>]</span>walls of the capital, on which waves the banner of Castile.
+
+</p>
+<p>On the coasts of the provinces these predatory inroads were not uncommon, till General Claveria, in the beginning of 1848,
+determined to punish them severely, and to intimidate them so signally, as to prevent any repetition of these offences. Accordingly,
+having secretly fitted out an expedition from Manilla on the 13th February, 1848, the steamer on board of which the Governor
+himself was, anchored between the islands of Parol and Balanguinguy. Next day the transports arrived, and on that and the
+following day they reconnoitred the islands, and did all the damage they could, by way of reprisal, demolishing several piers,
+and destroying a large quantity of paddy which they discovered concealed in a cave in a retired place.
+
+</p>
+<p>At daybreak, on the 16th February, the troops were disembarked before Balanguinguy under cover of a fire from the ships, and
+after a little resistance from the Sooloo men&#8212;who were excessively frightened by the appearance of the steamers, whose facility
+of movement they were quite unprepared for&#8212;the fort, consisting of bamboo, was taken by escalade after a brave resistance.
+<a id="d0e1966"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1966">249</a>]</span>The attacking force, consisting of about 4000 men, behaved with great coolness and decision, when exposed to the enemy&#8217;s fire
+and missiles of all sorts, such as arrows, javelins, &amp;c. About eighty of the defenders of the place were slain, many of them
+with the desperate bravery&#8212;or ferocity if you will&#8212;of men who neither would give or accept of quarter, having first stabbed
+their wives, children, and useless old men and women. On seeing the success of the Spaniards, they formed themselves into
+a band, nearly all of whom perished on the points of the soldiers&#8217; bayonets, fighting bravely to the last; when the few survivors,
+seeing their companions dead and dying around them, with all the desperation of pirates, threw themselves from the walls,
+which were lofty, preferring certain death to the chance of falling into the hands of their enemies alive. Fourteen pieces
+of artillery were found within the place, which was destroyed, and preparations were made and acted upon for attacking the
+forts of Sipac and Sungap, both of which were successful.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Governor, General Claveria, gained at the time a good deal of reputation from his soldierly management of the forces at
+his disposal; and <a id="d0e1970"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1970">250</a>]</span>when the news reached Spain, he was created the <i>Conde</i> of Manilla, &amp;c.
+
+</p>
+<p>On his return from this expedition, a great deal of absurd parade was, as is usual with the Spaniards, prepared to welcome
+him; and the General was forced to march under triumphal arches, &amp;c., all of them bearing the most glowing inscriptions to
+the conqueror of the three bamboo forts from a race of barbarians, most of whom were unprovided with better arms than bows
+and arrows, spears, &amp;c.; for although they had some small cannon, they could not make a proper use of them. Truly it was a
+pity to see the good deeds of the Balanguinguy expedition burlesqued by these ridiculous pageants.
+
+</p>
+<p>The lesson then taught the Sooloo chiefs did not, however, <a id="d0e1979"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: longer">linger</span> long in their memories; for their old habits of piracy, and kidnapping people for slaves, were resumed almost so soon as
+the Spaniards returned to Manilla.
+
+</p>
+<p>In 1850, Don Antonio de Urbistondo, Marques de la Solana, came out to Manilla as Governor of the Philippines. He was a man
+whose whole life had been passed in the camp, but his reputation had been gained during the civil wars in Spain, where he
+fought for legitimacy by the side of Don <a id="d0e1984"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1984">251</a>]</span>Carlos against the present queen. Nor did he give up the cause in which he had drawn his sword, until Don Carlos himself lost
+heart and forsook it, after which Don Antonio took advantage of the clemency of the queen, and swore allegiance to her as
+his sovereign. His talents as a soldier, although they had been displayed against herself, were rewarded by a marquisate,
+and afterwards by the government of the Philippines. A person of his character and military education was, of course, a most
+unlikely one tamely to permit an insult to be offered to the Spanish flag, or an outrage to be perpetrated in the Philippines
+by the Sooloomen; accordingly, when an instance occurred near the end of last year, prompt satisfaction was immediately demanded
+from the Sultan and Datos, who, as usual, accused some of their neighbours, with whom they were at variance at the time, of
+being the authors of it; and invited the Spaniards to seek reparation from them sword in hand. Accordingly an expedition was
+fitted out, and, with the Governor at its head, sailed for Sooloo in order to awe them, by the alacrity and force which the
+occasion at once called forth, and to establish a new treaty which would prevent the recurrence of such acts, and <a id="d0e1986"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1986">252</a>]</span>the necessity for such expeditions; and it was proposed to punish with no light hand those Tonquiles and others of the Samales
+whom the Sultan had accused as the perpetrators of the late aggression.
+
+</p>
+<p>However, on reaching the principal fort of the Sultan Mahomet Pulalon, he found that the Sooloomen would have no communication
+with him, and that they even threatened the envoys sent among them; and at last, some guns were, I believe, fired on one of
+the ships. Immediately after this, measures of retaliation were arranged, and were acted upon at once; the place off which
+the fleet was, being attacked and taken, and all the forts and villages in the neighbourhood burnt within forty-eight hours
+after the Spanish flag had been insulted. After this severe lesson the Sultan and Datos fled, leaving in the hands of the
+Spaniards eight bamboo forts and one hundred and thirty pieces of artillery, besides several other warlike stores. All this
+took place very recently, no longer ago than on the last day of February of this year (1851). General Urbistondo published
+to his troops a general complimentary order, dated from the fortified residence of one of the most powerful <a id="d0e1990"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1990">253</a>]</span>Datos; and on the 1st of March the Spaniards were in possession of the principal fort of the Sultan. The particulars of this
+expedition I cannot give, having left Manilla shortly before the preparations for it began, although, I believe, it consisted
+of three war-steamers and some transports, who carried about 4000 men down to Sooloo.
+
+</p>
+<p>The loss of the Spaniards in the whole affair was 34 men killed, with 84 wounded. A very unpleasant circumstance to the army
+was connected with this expedition. Two field-officers, both of them acting lieutenant-colonels of separate regiments, showed
+the white feather at the moment of danger; for which, I believe, they have since been cashiered, and not shot, as they might
+have been, had their chief not been as merciful as he is brave.
+
+</p>
+<p>Although this chastisement to the Sooloo men has been severe, it is unlikely to restrain the chiefs from their predatory expeditions,
+at least for any length of time; as under the present state of things prevailing among them, they have no other objects to
+exhaust their idleness and energetic characters upon, than piratical adventure. But were commerce and its emoluments <a id="d0e1996"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1996">254</a>]</span>displayed before them, from some place in the vicinity of Zamboanga, or from that place itself, the civilizing influence which
+the arts of peace always engender would so pervade their minds in a very few years, that their habits would be changed, and
+the blessings of education, religion, and peace, might be expected to civilize and elevate their minds. Their energies and
+seamanship would then be in requisition as the navigators of all the Archipelago, and to carry in their native vessels the
+produce of the fertile inland districts of Mindanao, and of Northern Borneo, to the great mart which Zamboanga would become,
+should it fortunately be made an open port of trade for the people of all nations.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e1998"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1998">255</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXXI.</h2>
+<p>The coasting trade, which is a very important nursery for the marine of the Philippines, is carried on exclusively by the
+national vessels, no foreign ships being allowed to engage in it.
+
+</p>
+<p>Manilla, being the only port open to the foreign merchants, is the grand emporium or centre to which nearly all the productions
+of the islands are brought, which regulation gives employment to an infinite number of colonial shipping, in carrying them
+to that market. Every day there are several arrivals from the various sea-ports of the different districts of the islands,
+of brigs, schooners, pontines, galeras, caracoas, and pancos, all of them being curious specimens of every variety of ship-building,
+from <a id="d0e2006"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2006">256</a>]</span>the black and low snake-like schooner, or handsome brig, to the most rude description of vessel built. Where iron nails are
+scarce and expensive, some of these are fastened together apparently in a manner the most unsatisfactory possible for their
+crews or passengers, should they have to encounter a gale of wind during their voyages.
+
+</p>
+<p>Nearly the whole of the coasting trade is in the hands of the Indians, or Mestizos of Chinese descent, called <i>Sangleys</i>, although several Spaniards and European Mestizos at Manilla also own a better class of ships than those described, constantly
+engaged in going and returning from the provinces.
+
+</p>
+<p>Still, from some cause or other, they do not appear to carry the on trade so successfully as the provincial shipowners, most
+of whom have only one or two small vessels, which they keep constantly running between their native place and Manilla, and
+whose sole business it is, after despatching either of them, to purchase up from the cultivators of the soil, such small lots
+of their produce as are cheap at the time, such as sugar, rice, &amp;c., which they are able to do at greatly lower terms, when
+buying them by little at a time, than it would be possible for the agent of <a id="d0e2015"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2015">257</a>]</span>a merchant in Manilla to do, whose operations it would probably be necessary should be conducted upon a more extensive and
+quicker scale, and whose knowledge of the district and of the vendors could seldom be equal to that of a native Sangley, or
+Indian born among them.
+
+</p>
+<p>In consequence of all the produce being originally purchased by small lots at a time, it is of very variable quality; and
+on a cargo of Muscovado sugar, for instance, being purchased from one of these traders by a foreign merchant of Manilla, for
+exportation, it is perfectly essential to open the whole of the bags in which it has come up to Manilla from the provinces,
+and to empty their contents into one great heap, which causes it to get well mingled together, and ensures the requisite regularity
+of sample, after which it has to be rebagged and shipped off to the foreign vessels that may be waiting to receive it in the
+bay.
+
+</p>
+<p>Of course the expense of all this is very considerable, for not only is there all the labour and cost of bags, &amp;c., incurred
+twice, but there is the freight and insurance by the province vessel, which has brought it up to Manilla, to be added <a id="d0e2021"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2021">258</a>]</span>to the natural cost of the sugar at the place of its growth and manufacture.
+
+</p>
+<p>All these restrictions on trade affect the quantity of sugar sold by the native planters, and in a very material degree depress
+the agricultural activity of the people, who suffer from them. But probably there are no greater sufferers from such restrictive
+regulations than the Government which so ignorantly sustains or has imposed them. So little anxious have they been to encourage
+the trade, that formerly, at various times, they very nearly all but ruined it, by imposing import duties on all the produce
+of the provinces that came to Manilla from them, for sale. This, added to the export duties at the time of its shipment to
+foreign markets, so much increased the cost of those articles in Manilla, that the foreign merchants there, finding they could
+procure similar merchandise at other places for less money, of course would not buy it; and the native traders, finding their
+produce unsaleable except at losing prices, could not make any further purchases from the native agriculturists, which caused
+so much distress in the country, that the provinces got into a high state of <a id="d0e2025"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2025">259</a>]</span>disaffection on several occasions, from the same cause; upon seeing which the Government were wise enough to repeal their
+restrictive laws, and allow the free interchange of commodities between all the provinces of the Philippines.
+
+</p>
+<p>For instead, as was supposed, of its falling upon the exporting foreign merchants, and on those who bought their cargoes of
+Manilla produce from them at the port of discharge, the tax fell upon the native agriculturists, inasmuch as they had to reduce
+the former prices of all their produce which paid the tax, and to equalise them to the rates at which similar merchandise
+was procurable in other markets, where no tax of the sort existed;&#8212;and this, of course, compelled the cultivators of these
+articles in the Philippines to sell the produce of their farms for less money than they formerly obtained for the same goods.
+By so doing, it was equivalent to reducing the former wages of their labour, or of the produce of their land&#8212;the effects of
+which were speedily felt and comprehended by them, although some of the officials, who imposed it, might scoff at the causes
+they assigned, and reiterate their crude and erroneous notions of political economy, to prove that it could not <a id="d0e2029"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2029">260</a>]</span>affect them, but must be paid by the great merchants, or by the consumers of their produce in Europe. They quite forgot that
+these could be supplied with the same things from other places, where they were not subjected to the tax, and of course were
+procurable cheaper.
+
+</p>
+<p>Owners of vessels suitable for the coasting trade, who reside in Manilla, have one advantage over the provincial ship-builders;
+namely, that when the government service gives employment to shipping, they are in a better position for offering for it,
+than persons at a distance from the capital can be.
+
+</p>
+<p>The freight of tobacco, for instance, gives a good deal of employment to ships, and as government rates are in general rather
+better than any charters obtainable from private merchants, the procuring of a government contract for carrying any of the
+articles which they monopolize, of which the above-mentioned is one, is an object of some competition. These freights are
+usually settled by tenders, sealed and delivered to an officer appointed to receive them, by the Yntendente, or officer at
+the head of the Finance Department. I was acquainted with a gentleman, who, having several idle vessels suitable for this
+<a id="d0e2035"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2035">261</a>]</span>carrying trade, was of course most anxious to get the contract, to give employment to his ships; and having found out who
+the other contractors for it were, and all of them happening to be cautious men, not likely to offer for it at a losing price,
+he resolved to play a bold game, and made his tender for the conveyance of it out in some such words as these: &#8220;I offer freight
+for the tobacco, at one <i>cuarto</i> less than any body else will take it at,&#8221; and signed his name; a <i>cuarto</i> being the very smallest copper coin current at Manilla. Of course he got the contract; which&#8212;as he anticipated from knowing
+the men who offered for it&#8212;turned out to be a very good one; and, as the Yntendente of the time was an intimate friend of
+his, he ran little risk of being taken advantage of, by a lower sum being named to him as the lowest tender than what was
+actually the case.
+
+</p>
+<p>Nearly all the tobacco collected in Cagayan is yearly brought to Manilla during the north-east monsoon. The contracts for
+this purpose generally embrace a term of three or four years, during which the rate paid by Government to the person who engages
+to bring all the bales (or cases) of it which they may require at one fixed freight, never fluctuates, even although the amount
+<a id="d0e2045"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2045">262</a>]</span>shipped by them is very much in excess of the usual quantity, and he may be forced to charter vessels from his neighbours
+at a much higher rate than the Government pay him, in order to fulfil the conditions of his contract. Considerable care is
+requisite in loading this tobacco, as, should there be a mistake made even of one bale, the contractor is forced to account
+for it to Government at the price they sell it at, which is about three times as much as they pay for it; and this regulation
+is no doubt found to be very requisite, in order to prevent fraud.
+
+</p>
+<p>After the tobacco has been manufactured into cigars, the contractor has to deliver it at various stations throughout the islands,
+these places being generally the head-quarters of the fiscal or <i>estanco</i> department of the different maritime provinces from which the other are supplied. Besides the coasting trade from the provinces
+to Manilla, and that in the government service, there is a trade carried on by various provinces between themselves, such
+as conveying rice or paddy from the grain-districts to other provinces where less of it is grown, from the attention of the
+natives being directed to some other agricultural produce more suitable than paddy to their soil and climate, as <a id="d0e2052"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2052">263</a>]</span>from <a id="d0e2054"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Autique">Antique</span> to Mindora or Zamboanga, or from the island of Samar to that of Negros, or to Mesamis. Thus in the hemp provinces, little
+paddy is planted, as it is more profitable for them to make hemp, or to weave Sinamais cloths, &amp;c., than to do so. This commerce,
+however, is not of any great extent; the principal&#8212;indeed the only great&#8212;market of the country being Manilla, where traders
+from all parts of the Archipelago meet to buy and sell.
+
+</p>
+<p>It has been mentioned elsewhere that foreign men, as well as foreign ships, are at present excluded from engaging in the provincial
+trade; which is about as illiberal and unwise an act as any country could be guilty of, and should be changed, not for the
+benefit of foreign traders, but for the good of the country.
+
+</p>
+<p>In connexion with the province trade, the naval school ought to be mentioned, as it is a most useful institution, where arithmetic,
+geometry, and navigation are taught gratuitously, at an expense to Government of nearly 2,400 dollars a-year.
+
+</p>
+<p>The President of the Chamber of Commerce is also President of the school, and the members of that body have the privilege
+of admitting the <a id="d0e2063"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2063">264</a>]</span>pupils&#8212;a right which I believe they exercise liberally. At this place, boys are very well trained up in the scientific and
+theoretical part of their profession; but unfortunately, from some cause or other, their education afterwards as practical
+seamen does not keep pace with it, and they generally are as much behind our British or American shipmasters in all relating
+to the sea, as can be well conceived, although they are not unfrequently superior to them, and at least are equal, in their
+theoretical attainments.
+
+</p>
+<p>At this school, many of the Creoles and Mestizos of Manilla have shown to the world that they did not want the ability to
+learn, when they had good masters to instruct them; but good heads and hands are seldom found together. In fact, I rather
+think that the lads educated here are taught too much (if that be possible), and by being so, have their ideas raised above
+their stations; for many of them are, by a great deal, much more like gentlemen than a number of the merchant skippers or
+mates in our British ships, whose horny fists and tar-stained dress make few pretensions to outward gentility.
+
+</p>
+<p>Among the province-trading vessels lying at <a id="d0e2069"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2069">265</a>]</span>anchor in Manilla river, there are at all times to be seen some curious specimens of ship-building, few of them being insurable.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some of these coasters, although nearly all shaped in the European style, have almost the whole of their rigging constructed
+of ropes made from the bamboo, and are fitted with anchors made from ebony or some other heavy wood, having occasionally a
+large piece of stone fastened to them, to insure their sinking. The cables to which they are attached are generally of a black
+rush, like sedge, or of bamboo; but in the event of a gale, I should say that their crews had great need never to embark in
+these frail shells, except when well assured of being at peace with God and man.
+
+</p>
+<p>In ordinary years these vessels are laid up for several months every season, as it would most probably be certain destruction
+for any of them to attempt proceeding to sea from October till December.
+
+</p>
+<p>Although a large proportion of the colonial-built vessels are bad, still there are a few constructed in the country which
+would be considered fine ships in any part of the world.
+
+</p>
+<p>When a good vessel is built there, the first <a id="d0e2079"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2079">266</a>]</span>voyage she makes is usually to Spain, if she can get a freight; and after discharging her cargo, her next voyage is to a British
+port, in order that she may be fitted with copper bolts and iron work, under the inspection of Lloyd&#8217;s surveyor; after which
+her character is established, and she is classed A 1 ship for a term of years.
+
+</p>
+<p>But notwithstanding these ships being placed in Lloyd&#8217;s books, the insurance offices can seldom be persuaded to accept of
+risks even in first-class vessels, when their crews are Spaniards, on the same favourable terms at which risks are freely
+taken on good British ships. They almost invariably demand an increased premium, and occasionally decline risks by them altogether.
+
+</p>
+<p>Now, although bad management sometimes occurs on board of Spanish ships, our own are not exempt from it; and I believe that
+prejudice causes them to refuse the insurance as much as anything else.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Dons have got a bad name as seamen, and very true is the elegant proverb, &#8220;Give a dog a bad name, and hang him.&#8221;
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e2087"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2087">267</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXXII.</h2>
+<p>Nearly the whole of the produce of the Philippines is exported from Manilla by the foreign merchants resident there, none
+of the Spaniards being engaged in commerce to anything like the same extent as the foreigners are; the few British and the
+two American houses doing an immensely greater amount of business than the whole transactions of all the Spanish merchants,
+numerous though they be. The trade of my countrymen consists principally in selling cotton manufactured goods, and in purchasing
+the produce of the islands for export; while the business of the Americans, who sell few goods, consists almost entirely in
+purchasing produce for the markets of the United States, and elsewhere. <a id="d0e2093"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2093">268</a>]</span>The Chinese are also large importers of their country&#8217;s manufactures, curiosities, and nick-knacks, and also very considerable
+exporters.
+
+</p>
+<p>The statistical data embodied in the following tables will inform the reader pretty exactly of the amount of exports from
+the Philippines, with the exception of the single article of rice, immense quantities of which are carried over to China by
+Spanish ships, which load it at the districts where it is grown; for as the Government charge no export duty on its exportation
+in ships bearing the national flag, they are allowed to depart from the general rule of all vessels being obliged to load
+at Manilla while shipping cargo for foreign ports, if they are merely taking rice on board, and nothing else.
+
+</p>
+<p>It is right, however, to inform the reader, that although the subjoined table may approach very nearly to the truth in most
+respects, as it has been gradually and very carefully collected by the largest British mercantile establishment at Manilla,
+the nature of whose business requires that they should be as well acquainted with all facts such as the table embraces, as
+from the nature of existing circumstances there it is possible to be, yet at that place there is at all times a greater <a id="d0e2099"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2099">269</a>]</span>or less degree of difficulty in obtaining correct statistical information of the trade; and this is considerably increased
+by the Government not choosing to communicate the particulars they collect at the Custom-house, erroneous though they be.
+
+</p>
+<p>In an underhand way, however, these particulars can be obtained from some of the Indian copyists employed in that establishment,
+if they are paid for it; and, in fact, they are in the habit of communicating a note of the different cargoes of ships coming
+in, or going away loaded, to some of the merchants. Yet these notes are nearly always more or less erroneous, from various
+causes. To obviate these inconveniences, several of the principal export merchants are in the habit of mutually furnishing
+each other with a correct statement of the various cargoes they ship; but still, as there are many exporters besides themselves,
+some degree of error must pervade even their carefully-gleaned information. But there is one thing to be borne in mind, that
+the following table is most likely to be considerably under the truth, and certainly is not over it.
+
+<a id="d0e2103"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2103">270</a>]</span></p>
+<p><i>General Statement of Exports from Manilla during 1850.</i>
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table style="font-size: 80%;" width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" width="20%"><b> </b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To Great Britain.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To the Continent of Europe.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To the Australian Colonies.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To China.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To Singapore<a id="d0e2122"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: ">,</span> Batavia, &amp; Bombay.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To California and the Pacific.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To United States.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="2" width="20%" class="aligncenter"><b><span class="smallcaps">Total</span></b></td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Sugar
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 146,926
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 50,830
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 142,359
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 12,749
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 29,144
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 77,919
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">459,927 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Hemp
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 16,073
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,568
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 544
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">102,184
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">124,367 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Cordage
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 96
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 476
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3,753
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,732
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 680
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,137
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 210
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9,084 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Cigars
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 10,319
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 11,867
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 12,561
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9,262
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 26,859
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,707
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 914
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 73,439 </td>
+<td valign="top">mil.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Leaf Tobacco
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 42,629
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 42,629 </td>
+<td valign="top">quintals.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Sapan-wood
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 37,068
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 14,436
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 18,942
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 17,337
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9,015
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 96,798 </td>
+<td valign="top">arrobas.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Coffee
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 165
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9,670
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,481
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 100
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 250
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,072
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,063
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 14,801 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Indigo
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 259
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 213
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top">uncertain
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3,753
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4,225 </td>
+<td valign="top">quintals.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Hides
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3,340
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 213
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,069
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4,622 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Hide Cuttings
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 536
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,419
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,955 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Mother-of-pearl Shell
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 820
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 338
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 260
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 74
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,492 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Tortoise-shell
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,081
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 580
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 555
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,912
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 469
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,597 </td>
+<td valign="top">catties.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Rice
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 6,576
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top">uncertain
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,467
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="2">Uncertain.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Beche de Mer
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4,348
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4,348 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Gold Dust
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,068
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,068 </td>
+<td valign="top">taels.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Camagon, or Ebony-wood
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 235
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,213
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 794
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,242 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Grass-cloth
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 175
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 13,252
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 500
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 650
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 22,975
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 37,552 </td>
+<td valign="top">pieces.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Hats
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9,400
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,115
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9,115
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 500
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 25,870
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 50,000 </td>
+<td valign="top">hats.</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+<a id="d0e2513"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2513">271</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The quantity of rice and paddy shipped to China from the provinces cannot be ascertained with any degree of exactness; what
+goes from Manilla is very small, because, before arriving there, it has, by its transport expenses, added to the price at
+which it is obtainable in the districts where it is produced, which, of course, prevents its being shipped from the capital.
+At a guess, however, I should suppose that about a million cavans, each of which, one with another, weighs about a China pecul,
+or 133&#8531; lbs, is an average yearly export, should the Government not prohibit the article from being exported for a longer
+period than usual, which is annually regulated by the scarcity or abundance of food in the country.
+
+</p>
+<p>From the preceding table, the reader will observe that the exports of 1850, when compared with those of 1847, of which the
+following is a statement, have increased in some respects, and fallen off in others.
+
+<a id="d0e2518"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2518">272</a>]</span></p>
+<p><i>Statement of Exports from Manilla during 1850.</i>
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table style="font-size: 80%;" width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" width="20%"><b> </b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To Great Britain.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To the Continent of Europe.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To the United States.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To the Pacific and California.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To the Australian Colonies.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To China.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To Singapore
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"><b>To Batavia.
+</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="2" width="20%" class="aligncenter"><b><span class="smallcaps">Total</span></b></td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Sugar
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">104,246
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 18,755
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 92,149
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4,150
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 174,777
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">394,077 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Hemp
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 16,592
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,438
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 98,440
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 300
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,888
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">119,658 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Cordage
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 20
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 546
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 7,038
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 404
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4,430
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 825
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,425
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 14,688 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Indigo
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 58
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 78
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,166
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 149
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 118
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,569 </td>
+<td valign="top">quintals.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Sapan-wood
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 12,055
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 11,960
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 28,891
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 160
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,210
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 18,814
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,817
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 78,907 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Hides
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,366
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 183
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,821
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2,389
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,759 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Hide Cuttings
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,893
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,893 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Gold Dust
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3,970
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3,970 </td>
+<td valign="top">taels.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Coffee
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9,244
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 395
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4,267
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 13,906 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Rice
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 23,760
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4,520
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 300
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 772
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top">uncertain
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 875
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="2">Uncertain.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Paddy
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,870
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 13,978
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top">uncertain
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="2">Ditto.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Cigars
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 16,010
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 11,176
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 548
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 787
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9,674
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 6,706
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 19,169
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,943
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 70,013 </td>
+<td valign="top">mil.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Leaf Tobacco
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,440
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 115,016
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,280
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">125,733 </td>
+<td valign="top">arrobas.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Mother-of-Pearl Shell
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 708
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 92
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 16
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 816 </td>
+<td valign="top">peculs.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Grass-cloth
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 56,171
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 56,171 </td>
+<td valign="top">pieces.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Hats
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1,600
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 10,932
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5,560
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="aligncenter"> &#8212;
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 18,092 </td>
+<td valign="top">hats.</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+<a id="d0e2915"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2915">273</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The quantity of hemp shipped during the years 1848 and 1849, was greater than the quantity indicated in either of these tables,
+but as the increased export was principally caused by speculation in the United States, the average annual export may probably
+not be greater than the amount set down in the table of 1850, although, in the previous year, about 30,000 peculs more were
+shipped.
+
+</p>
+<p>Of the exports to the continent of Europe only a small proportion goes to Spain, probably not exceeding a third part of the
+quantities set down in the table for the continent.
+
+</p>
+<p>Bremen, Hamburg, and Antwerp, are the three towns in the north with which most business is done, and Bordeaux and Havre de
+Gr&acirc;ce, are nearly the only places to which the other exports are shipped for Europe, exclusive of the ports of Cadiz, Malaga,
+and Bilboa, in the Peninsula.
+
+</p>
+<p>Having furnished the preceding tables of the amount of the exports from the only outlet for foreign trade with the islands,
+excepting in rice to China, as before mentioned, the reader may be able to form some opinion of their veracity and value.
+And as it may be of some service, I shall <a id="d0e2924"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2924">274</a>]</span>give a short sketch of each of the most important of the articles there set down, premising it with a memorandum of the weights
+and measures now in use through the islands. The pecul is equal to 140 lbs. English, or 137&frac12; lbs. Spanish; the Spanish lb.
+being two per cent. heavier than the standard British lb. The quintal is 102 lbs. English, and the arroba 25&frac12; lbs. English.
+The cavan is a measure of the capacity of 5,998 cubic inches, and is subdivided into 25 quintas. The Spanish yard, or vara,
+is eight per cent. shorter than the British yard, by which latter all the cotton and other manufactures are sold by the merchants
+importing them, although the shopkeepers who purchase them retail everything by the Spanish yard.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e2926"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2926">275</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2>
+<p>It is not my intention, even were it in my power, which it is not, to attempt an exact and complete description of all the
+productions of the group of islands composing the Philippines, to which nature has with no niggardly hand dispensed great
+territorial and maritime wealth. And as the limits of this work prevent much expansion, I will confine the following observations
+to an outline of the principal articles produced in the country, beginning the catalogue with the most important of them all,
+namely, rice.
+
+</p>
+<p>The cultivation of paddy, or rice, here, as all over Asia, exercises by far the greatest amount of <a id="d0e2934"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2934">276</a>]</span>agricultural labour, being their most extensive article of cultivation, as it forms the usual food of the people, and is,
+as the Spaniards truly call it, <i>El pau de los Indios</i>; a good or bad crop of it, influencing them just as much as potatoes do the Irish, or as the wheat crops do in bread-consuming
+countries.
+
+</p>
+<p>In September and October, when, in consequence of the heavy previous rains since the beginning of the wet season, the parched
+land is so buried as generally about that time to present the appearance of one vast marsh, it is ploughed lightly, after
+which the husbandman transplants the grain from the nurseries in which he had previously deposited it, in order to undergo
+there the first stages of vegetation.
+
+</p>
+<p>In December, or in January, the grain is ready for the sickle, and in general repays his cares and labour by the most abundant
+harvest. There is no culture more easy and simple; nor any which gives such positive good results in less time, as only four
+months pass between the times of sowing and reaping the rice crop.
+
+</p>
+<p>In some places the mode of reaping differs from the customs of others. At some places they <a id="d0e2945"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2945">277</a>]</span>merely cut the ears from off the stalks, which are allowed to remain on the fields to decay, and fertilize the soil as a manure;
+and in other provinces the straw is all reaped, and bound in the same way as wheat is at home, being then piled up in ricks
+and stacks to dry in the sun, after which the grain is separated by the treading of ponies, the horses of the country, upon
+it, or by other means, when the grain is again cleared of another outer husk, by being thrown into a mortar, generally formed
+out of the trunk of some large tree, where the men, women, and children of the farm are occupied in pounding it with a heavy
+wooden pestle, which removes the husk, but leaves the grain still covered by a delicate skin. When in this state it is known
+as pinagua; but after that is taken off, the rice is clean.
+
+</p>
+<p>For blowing away the chaff from the grain, they employ an implement worked by a handle and a wheel in a box, which is very
+similar to the old-fashioned fanners used in Scotland by the smaller farmers for the same purpose.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the neighbourhood of Manilla, there is a steam-mill for the purpose of cleaning rice; and <a id="d0e2951"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2951">278</a>]</span>there are several machines worked by horse-power throughout the country. But although there are many facilities for the employment
+of water-power for the same purpose, I am not acquainted with any mill moved on that principle.
+
+</p>
+<p>The qualities of rice produced in the different provinces, varies a good deal in quality. That of Ylocos is the heaviest,
+a cavan of it weighing about 140 lbs. English, while Camarines rice weighs only about 132 lbs., and some of the other provinces
+not over 126 lbs. per cavan.
+
+</p>
+<p>Although in all the provinces rice is grown to a considerable extent, yet those which produce it best, and in greatest abundance,
+and form what may be called granaries for the others, which are not so suitable for that cultivation, may be considered to
+be Ylocos, <a id="d0e2957"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Pangasnian">Pangasinan</span>, Bulacan, Capiz, Camarines, and <a id="d0e2960"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Autique">Antique</span>.
+
+</p>
+<p>It is best to ship rice in dry weather; and should it be destined for Europe, or any other distant market, it should leave
+by the fair monsoon, in order that the voyage may be as short as possible, to ensure which, all orders for rice purchases
+for the European markets should reach Manilla in December or January, as the new crop <a id="d0e2965"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2965">279</a>]</span>just begins to arrive about the end of that month. It takes about a month to clean a cargo at the steam-mill, and after March,
+the fair monsoon for homeward-bound ships cannot much be depended upon; and were the vessel to make a long passage, the cargo
+would probably be excessively damaged by weevils, by which it is very frequently attacked. Ylocos rice is considered to be
+the best for a long voyage, as it keeps better than that grown in other provinces.
+
+</p>
+<p>The price of white rice is rarely below two dollars per pecul, or above two and a half dollars per pecul, bagged and ready
+for shipment.
+
+</p>
+<p>A hundred cavans of ordinary province rice will usually produce 85 per cent. of clean white, and about 10 per cent. of broken
+rice, which can be sold at about half the price of the ordinary quality: the remaining 5 per cent. is wasted in cleaning.
+
+</p>
+<p>Rice exported by a Spanish ship, goes free; but if exported by any foreign ship, even when it is sent to a Spanish colony,
+it pays 3&frac12; per cent. export duty, and when sent to a foreign country by a foreign ship, it pays an export duty of 4&frac12; per cent.
+In order to be more explicit, <a id="d0e2973"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2973">280</a>]</span>it may be well to give a <i>pro form&acirc;</i> invoice of rice.
+
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" width="70%">5,000 peculs of white rice, bought ready for shipment at the mill, at $2&frac14; per pecul
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" width="15%"> </td>
+<td valign="top" width="15%" class="alignright">$11,250 00</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Charges :&#8212;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Export duty on valuation, which can generally be managed to be got at a good deal under the market price; say at $1&frac12; per pecul,
+at 4&frac12; per cent.
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">$337 50</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Boat and coolie hire, shipping
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">200 00</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"> </td>
+<td valign="top"> </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">537 50</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"> </td>
+<td valign="top"> </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright" style="padding-top: 2px; border-top: solid black 1px;">$11,787 50</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Commission for purchasing and shipping, &amp;c., at 5 per cent.
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top"> </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">589 37</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"> </td>
+<td valign="top"> </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright" style="padding-top: 2px; border-top: solid black 1px;">$12,376 87</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>This is about equal to its price if purchased and cleaned in another manner; for instance:&#8212;
+
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" width="85%">1,000 cavans province rice, costing, say, 10&frac12; rials per cavan, =
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" width="15%" class="alignright">$1,312 50</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">will generally produce 85 per cent. clean white rice, fit for shipping, and 10 per cent. broken rice, which can be sold at
+about 5&frac14; rials per cavan, =
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">65 62</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">thus 150 cavans (equal to about 820 peculs) will cost
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">$1,246 88</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">Add the expenses of receiving on board the native boats, measuring there, landing, re-measuring, cleaning, bags and bagging,
+averaging from about 70 to 80 cents. per pecul of cleaned rice, say at 75 cents, =
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">615 00</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">$1,861 88</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+<a id="d0e3055"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3055">281</a>]</span></p>
+<p>or equal to $2&#8211;27/100 per pecul for clean white rice, ready for shipment.
+
+</p>
+<p><i>Sugar.</i>&#8212;Although the cane is cultivated to a greater or less extent throughout all the islands, there are four descriptions of sugar
+well known in commerce, grown in the Philippines, and these come respectively from the districts of Pampanga, <a id="d0e3062"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Pangasnian">Pangasinan</span>, Cebu, and Saal, after which districts they are named; and the growth of other places producing similar sugars to any of
+these descriptions, usually passes under one of these names in the market, although Yloylo is sometimes, though rarely, distinguished
+as a separate quality. The mills employed for expressing the juice from the cane are nearly all of stone; and firewood is
+usually employed to boil the sugar; for although they have for some years introduced the plan of employing the refuse of the
+cane for that purpose, it is not yet very general.
+
+</p>
+<p>A large quantity of the Muscovado sugar made in the country, resembling the descriptions produced in the provinces of Pampanga
+and <a id="d0e3067"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Pangasnian">Pangasinan</span>, is brought to Manilla for sale, in large conical earthern jars, called <i>pilones</i>, each of which weighs a pecul. The Chinese or Mestizos who are engaged in the purifying of sugar are the <a id="d0e3073"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3073">282</a>]</span>purchasers of these lots, and most of them are in the habit of sending an agent through the country, with orders to buy up
+as much of such sugar as they require to keep their establishments at work. They are in the habit of paying these travellers
+a rial, which at Manilla is the eighth part of a dollar, for every pilone he purchases on their account at the limits they
+give him. When enough has been collected in one neighbourhood to load a casco or other province boat, it is despatched to
+their camarine at Manilla, where after being taken from the original pilone, if it has come from Pampanga, it is mixed up
+together, and placed in another one, with an opening at the conical part, which is placed over a jar into which the molasses
+distilling from it gradually drop, when the colour of the sugar from being brown becomes of a greyish tinge.
+
+</p>
+<p>At the top of the pilone, so placed with the cone turned down, a layer of clay is spread over the sugar, as it has the property
+of attracting all the impurities to itself; so that the parts of the sugar in the pilone next to the clay are certain to be
+of the whitest and best colour, whilst the sugar at the bottom, or next the opening of the cone, is the darkest and most valueless,
+until it <a id="d0e3077"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3077">283</a>]</span>has had its turn of the clay; for when the Chinamen perceive that the top part of the sugar in the pilone or earthen jar has
+attained a certain degree of whiteness, they separate the white from the darker coloured, and the greyish tinged sugar from
+the dark brown coloured portion at the foot of the jar; and after exposing the white and greyish coloured to the sun, they
+are packed up, while the dark brown portion, after being mixed with that of a similar colour, is again consigned to the pilone
+to be clayed.
+
+</p>
+<p>Besides clay, some portions of the stem of the plantain-tree are said to have the power of extracting the impurities from
+sugar, and in some districts are said to be preferred to clay for that purpose, being chopped up in small pieces, and spread
+over it.
+
+</p>
+<p>The unclayed descriptions of sugar are generally procurable at Manilla by the end of February, when the new crop commences
+to come in; and clayed, or the new crop, is seldom ready for delivery before the middle of March.
+
+</p>
+<p>The entire crop is all ready for export by the end of April, although the market is seldom cleared of it till the January
+of the ensuing year, when the sugar clayers being anxious to <a id="d0e3085"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3085">284</a>]</span>close their accounts of the past crop, and wind up all that remains in their camarines, in order to be ready for the new season&#8217;s
+operations, are sometimes willing to make a reduction in the nominal price of the day, in order to effect that purpose. But
+as the grain of sugar does not improve by keeping, especially when it has to stand the moistness of the atmosphere during
+the preceding wet season, such sugar, if bought at that time, is seldom equal in grain to the produce of the new crop, although
+its colour may be preferable.
+
+</p>
+<p><a id="d0e3088"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Pangasnian">Pangasinan</span> sugar is of a beautiful white colour, but with a very inferior grain: it loses much in the sun-dryings, and is generally,
+I believe, mixed with the clayed Pampanga sugar, to give the latter a colour, although all the dealers deny doing it themselves,
+but are ready enough to believe, if told that their neighbours are in the habit of mixing both Cebu and it, in their pilones,&#8212;the
+first for the sake of cheapness, and the other for a colour. Pampanga sugar is of a brownish tinge, and when of good quality,
+of a strong grain. It possesses a very much greater quantity of saccharine matter than any other description of sugar I am
+acquainted with, and is consequently a favourite of the refiners at home and in Sweden. Taal <a id="d0e3091"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3091">285</a>]</span>and Cebu descriptions are never clayed separately, although, as before mentioned, the latter, on account of its cheapness,
+is occasionally mixed with Pampanga for claying.
+
+</p>
+<p>They are principally in demand for the Australian colonies, where Taal is generally preferred to Cebu (or Zebu), from its
+possessing more saccharine matter than the latter. Taal is generally so moist that it always loses considerably in weight,
+sometimes to the extent of about 10 per cent., and even more;&#8212;it is a strong sweet sugar. Cebu seldom loses so much as Taal,
+generally not more than 3 per cent. on a voyage of about two months&#8217; duration.
+
+</p>
+<p>All sugar is sold to the export merchants by the pecul of 140 lbs. English, and it is either paid for at the time of its delivery,
+or if a contract is made for a large quantity with a clayer, or other dealer, it is often necessary to advance a portion of
+the price to enable him to execute the order, and the merchants often do this long before a pecul of sugar is received from
+him, or any security given in return. This system prevails not only in sugar, but in all other articles of the agricultural
+produce of the islands, in the sale of which no credit is given to the purchaser.
+<a id="d0e3097"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3097">286</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Sugar pays an export duty of 3 per cent. It should never be weighed except upon a hot dry day, as if there is the least moisture
+in the air it absorbs it, and adds considerably to its weight.
+
+</p>
+<p>In connection with sugar, it may be stated, that some very good rum is made at Manilla, although very little is exported.
+It is a monopoly of the Government, who farm it out to one of the sugar clayers at Manilla. Molasses are never shipped, but
+are used in Manilla for mixing with the water given to the horses to drink, most of them refusing to taste it unless so sweetened.
+
+</p>
+<p>Hemp is produced from the bark of a species of the plantain-tree, forests of which are found growing wild in some provinces
+of the Philippines. The operation of making it is simple enough, the most important of the process apparently being the separation
+of the fibres from each other by an iron instrument, resembling a comb for the hair. After drying in the sun, and undergoing
+several other processes, with the minuti&aelig; of which I am unacquainted, it is made up into bales, weighing 280 lbs. each, and
+in that state is shipped for Manilla, where, after being picked more or less white, which is dependent entirely upon the purposes
+it is intended to serve, and the <a id="d0e3104"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3104">287</a>]</span>markets it has to be sent to, it is again pressed into bales of the same weight as before, although of much less bulk, and
+is exported, the greater quantity of it going to the United States of America, as the export tables will show.
+
+</p>
+<p>The best hemp is of a long and fine white fibre, very well dried, and of a silky gloss. The dark coloured is not so well liked,
+and if too bad for exportation, is generally made up into ropes for the colonial shipping, or sent down to Singapore for transhipment
+to Calcutta, where it is employed for the same purpose.
+
+</p>
+<p>The best hemp comes from Sorsogon and Leyte, and some of the Cebu is also very good. Albay, <a id="d0e3110"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Camamies">Camarines</span>, Samar, Bisayas, and some other districts, are those from which it principally comes.
+
+</p>
+<p>The freight on hemp shipped by American vessels to the United States, is reckoned at the rate of 40 cubic feet, or four bales
+of 10 feet each, to the ton; but when shipped to Great Britain, the freight is generally calculated at the ton of 20 cwt.,
+or 2,240 lbs. avoirdupois.
+
+</p>
+<p>Annexed is a table of calculations of what it will cost if put on board a ship in Manilla Bay, including all charges, and
+5 per cent. paid to an agent there for purchasing it, &amp;c.
+
+<a id="d0e3117"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3117">288</a>]</span>
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table style="font-size: 80%;" width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" colspan="3" width="15%" class="aligncenter"><b>At the exchange of</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="3" width="9%" class="aligncenter"><b>If bought at $5 per pecul would cost, free on board</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="3" width="9%" class="aligncenter"><b>At $5&frac14;</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="3" width="9%" class="aligncenter"><b>At $5&frac12;</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="3" width="9%" class="aligncenter"><b>At $5&frac34;</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="3" width="9%" class="aligncenter"><b>At $6</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="3" width="9%" class="aligncenter"><b>At $6&frac14;</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="3" width="9%" class="aligncenter"><b>At $6&frac12;</b></td>
+<td valign="top" colspan="3" width="9%" class="aligncenter"><b>At $7</b></td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>s. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>d. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i> </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>&pound; </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>s. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>d. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>&pound; </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>s. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>d.</i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>&pound; </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>s. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>d.</i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>&pound; </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>s. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>d.</i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>&pound; </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>s. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>d.</i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>&pound; </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>s. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>d.</i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>&pound; </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>s. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>d.</i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>&pound; </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>s. </i></td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><i>d.</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">1 </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 6 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">17 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 8</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">12 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">5</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 6 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">26 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">3 </td>
+<td valign="top" rowspan="11">Per ton of 20 cwt.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">1&frac12; </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 8</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">16 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">15 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">0</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">25 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">6</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">2 </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 8 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">6</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">15 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">15 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">26 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">0</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">2&frac12; </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">12 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 8 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">2</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 6</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">25 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">26 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">16 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">2</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">3 </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">16 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">13 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">12 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 7</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 8 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">9</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">25 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">27 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">6</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">3&frac12; </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">18 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">16 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 8</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">14 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">13 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">25 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">27 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 6 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">9</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">18 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">18 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">0</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">14 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">25 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">15 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">27 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">12 </td>
+<td valign="top">1</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4&frac12; </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 7 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 8 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 6 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">6</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 7</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">26 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">27 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">17 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">5</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"><a id="d0e3645"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: ">4</span>
+</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">5 </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 7 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 7 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 7 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">2</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">25 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">26 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 5 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">28 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 2 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">9</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">5&frac12; </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">15 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 6 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">14 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">13 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 7</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 8</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">9</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">25 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 1</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">26 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 9 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">11</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">28 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 8 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">0</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">6 </td>
+<td valign="top">per $</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 20 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">19 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 4 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">21 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">18 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 3</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">22 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">17 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">23 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">16 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright"> 0</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">24 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">16 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">25 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">13 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">26 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">14 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">10</td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">28 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">13 </td>
+<td valign="top" class="alignright">4</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+<a id="d0e3814"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3814">289</a>]</span></p>
+<p>To understand this table, suppose an agent in Manilla purchases a quantity of hemp for a merchant in London, at 5 dollars
+per pecul, the cost of packing, shipping, and the 5 per cent. commission for buying, &amp;c., will make it cost, when put on board
+ship in Manilla Bay, 20<i>l.</i> 19<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i> per ton, if drawn for at the exchange of 4<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> to the dollar. On its arrival at London, the freight, insurance, &amp;c., added to this, will be its actual cost laid down there.
+
+</p>
+<p><i>Tobacco.</i>&#8212;The best tobacco produced in the Philippines is grown in the Island of Luzon or Luconia, where it is monopolized by the Government,
+to whom it furnishes an important revenue. From the province of Cagayan, where the greater part of it is grown, the best quality
+comes, and that leaf, being much stronger than any grown elsewhere, is generally used as the envelope to wrap round the inferior
+descriptions of tobacco employed in the manufacture of cheroots. Most of the other descriptions used for them come from the
+district of Gapan, in Pampanga province, and the two sorts combined are said to produce pleasanter cigars than either separately
+could do,&#8212;the Cagayan leaf being too strong to <a id="d0e3836"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3836">290</a>]</span>be used alone, and the Gapan leaf too mild for the ordinary taste.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the mountains of Ylocos and Pangasinan, some of the native Indians inhabiting them grow quantities of tobacco, which they
+sell to the traders of the neighbourhood. In these mountains the Indians are still free, and retain their old pagan religion,
+unsubdued either by the Spanish soldiery, or by the more salutary and effective warfare waged against them by the priests,
+who labour assiduously to convert them to Christianity. Being mountaineers, and leading the unsettled and roving life of huntsmen,
+subsisting by the produce of the chase and the plaintain-tree, very little is known about them at Manilla beyond the fact
+of their existence, although the well-directed energies of several enthusiastic missionaries, who have as yet only found an
+entrance among them, are likely to civilize and ameliorate their condition somewhat, and to supply this information. Notwithstanding
+that the mounted police force, scattered over the country, are particularly attentive to hunt out all illicit growth of tobacco,
+and to put a stop to it by the severest punishments when it <a id="d0e3840"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3840">291</a>]</span>is discovered; they have not as yet been, nor in fact are likely to be, at all successful in doing so efficiently, so long
+as the Government continue to make the enormous profit they at present do from its sale, after it has been made by them into
+cheroots, or brought to Manilla and sold in the leaf for export. In Bisayas the quality of the leaf is so inferior in strength
+and appearance to that produced in Luzon, that the Government have not thought it worth while to appropriate the produce of
+the islands to themselves by a monopoly.
+
+</p>
+<p>There are several extensive manufactories of cigars carried on by the Government at and near Manilla, the most extensive being
+in the capital, although those at Malabone and Cavite also employ a great number of people in rolling them up.
+
+</p>
+<p>In making cheroots women only are employed, the number of those so engaged in the factory at Manilla being generally about
+4000. Besides these, a large body of men are employed at another place in the composition of cigarillos, or small cigars,
+kept together by an envelope of white paper in place of tobacco; these being the description most smoked by the Indians.
+<a id="d0e3846"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3846">292</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The flavour of Manilla cheroots is peculiar to themselves, being quite different from that made of any other sort of tobacco;
+the greatest characteristic probably being its slightly soporific tendency, which has caused many persons, in the habit of
+using it, to imagine that opium is employed in the preparatory treatment of the tobacco, which, however, is not the case.
+
+</p>
+<p>The cigars are made up by the hands of women in large rooms of the factory, each of them containing from 800 to 1000 souls.
+These are all seated, or squatted, Indian-like, on their haunches, upon the floor, round tables, at each of which there is
+an old woman presiding to keep the young ones in order, about a dozen of them being the complement of a table. All of them
+are supplied with a certain weight of tobacco, of the first, second, or third qualities used in composing a cigar, and are
+obliged to account for a proportionate number of cheroots, the weight and size of which are by these means kept equal.
+
+</p>
+<p>As they use stones for beating out the leaf on the wooden tables, before which they are seated, the noise produced by them
+while making them up is deafening, and generally <a id="d0e3853"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3853">293</a>]</span>sufficient to make no one desirous of protracting a visit to the place. The workers are well recompensed by the Government,
+as very many of them earn from six to ten dollars a month for their labour, and as that amount is amply sufficient to provide
+them with all their comforts, and to leave a large balance for their expenses in dress, &amp;c., they are seldom very constant
+labourers, and never enter the factory on Sundays, or, at least, on as great an annual number of feast-days as there are Sundays
+in a year.
+
+</p>
+<p>During the years of 1848 and 49, the Government were not in the habit of selling leaf-tobacco for export, but they have again
+resumed the practice of 1847, which, however, is likely to be stopped soon again; how soon, it is impossible to say&#8212;probably
+just when the caprice of the director of tobacco inclines him, as he is an influential person, generally, in his own department.
+
+</p>
+<p>The denominations of cheroots were changed in January, 1848; when the description formerly known as Thirds was and still is
+called Seconds, and the manufacture of a new sort known as Firsts was begun.
+
+</p>
+<p>The weights of new cigars when sent out of the factory are as follow:&#8212;Firsts 1500, Seconds 3000, <a id="d0e3861"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3861">294</a>]</span>Thirds 4000 to the arroba; the weight of the arroba when issued by Government from the factory being actually 1 pound 9 ounces
+over the current weight,&#8212;this allowance being made to meet the loss of weight which cigars always experience during a long
+sea-voyage, which, although it diminishes their bulk, is said materially to improve their flavour. All cigars for the use
+of the country-people are made in the Havana shape, and are prohibited being exported, probably from their desire to keep
+the name of Manilla cheroots up to its proper status, as the Havana-shaped cigars are seldom equal in flavour to those made
+for exportation.
+
+</p>
+<p>A large quantity of the Havana-shaped are made and used in the country by smugglers, who sell them at one-half the price charged
+by the Government, and some of these are occasionally sent from Manilla by stealth. But they are seldom so good as those of
+the Government make, although that occasionally deteriorates to an alarming degree, so that every now and then very bad cheroots
+are exported. Of course, when they are smoked and disliked no one uses them, and they become unsaleable, so that when Government
+finds that there are few or no purchasers, <a id="d0e3865"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3865">295</a>]</span>and that their stock is accumulating, they are obliged to use a better class tobacco in their manufacture, upon which people
+begin to buy from them again. However, this uncertainty as to their <i>at all times</i> producing good cigars, has a most detrimental effect upon themselves, and this alone prevents their consumption from being
+very much greater than it now is, if one uniformly good quality of tobacco were always used and the bad descriptions sold.
+
+</p>
+<p>The rates at which Government sell cigars are fixed, being 14 dollars per 1000 for Firsts, 8 dollars for Seconds, and 6&frac34; dollars
+for Thirds; although, if the purchasers will take off more than the stocks existing in their warehouses, the prices may be
+regulated by the eagerness of the buyers, from the cigars being sold at public auction, which, however, very seldom happens.
+Purchasers have no power to secure the good quality of the cigars they buy, as on an application being made to the director
+of the renta for a quantity, he merely fills up a printed order for their delivery, and after the money has been paid for
+them, but not till then, they are delivered by the warehouse-keepers at random, as it is not allowed to select for delivery
+any of the cigars under <a id="d0e3872"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3872">296</a>]</span>their charge, which are consequently never seen by the purchaser until after the completion of the bargain, when if the quality
+is bad he has no remedy for it, as they will not be received back again by the Government or the money for them returned.
+
+</p>
+<p><i>Indigo.</i>&#8212;The quantity produced is very small; that exported to the United States being the bulk of the crop, although large quantities
+of liquid indigo are also annually sent to China in casks; but I have not been able to ascertain its amount with any degree
+of precision. It is of an inferior quality to the solid dye, and sells for considerably less money.
+
+</p>
+<p>The dye coming from the provinces of Laguna and Pangasinan is generally of superior quality to that produced in Ylocos and
+elsewhere, their relative prices being about forty-five dollars per quintal for the first two descriptions, and twenty-eight
+dollars for the other sorts of first, second, and third qualities in proportions.
+
+</p>
+<p>The cultivation of the plant is very precarious, as it is liable to damage from a variety of causes; it will die if too much
+water collects round it, or if too little is given to it. It generally is grown on a dry soil, having a slight decline, to
+<a id="d0e3882"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3882">297</a>]</span>carry off the rain. To extract the dye from the plant, the usual process is to place it in large vessels containing lime and
+water, and then to bruise it with a wooden pestle; after which, when the water becomes still, the colouring matter will sink
+to the bottom of the vessel, when the water and the plants are drained off, and the matter, which by that time has acquired
+the consistency of paste, is exposed to the air to dry upon mats: as it becomes more dry it is divided by lines into small
+quadrangular pieces, and is broken up.
+
+</p>
+<p>To secure a good quality of indigo, great attention must be paid to the clearness of the water, and the proper mixture and
+quantity of the lime, as too much or too little is equally pernicious; also the time during which the bruising takes place,
+which, it appears, is a matter of very nice judgment, as it is usual to explain or account for the cause of the bad quality
+of a lot by saying that the planter has beat it for too long or too short a time, and that he did not know exactly when to
+stop.
+
+</p>
+<p>This article is very liable to adulteration, at which both native and Chinese dealers are so peculiarly expert, that purchasers
+trusting solely <a id="d0e3888"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3888">298</a>]</span>to their own knowledge are very liable to be deceived by them.
+
+</p>
+<p>The blues of the country are much brighter than any of the British or continental dyes, and are in consequence much preferred
+by the natives.
+
+</p>
+<p><a id="d0e3893"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: "><i>Cotton</i>.&#8212;</span>Cotton is only grown in a very small quantity, principally in Ylocos and Batangas provinces. Some of it is sent to China,
+but the major part of the crop is used in the country. It is seldom or never well cleaned, the rude machines employed for
+doing so being usually worked by the hand or foot, very imperfectly and slowly, cleaning only a small quantity of the wool
+in a day.
+
+</p>
+<p><a id="d0e3899"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: "><i>Cocoa-nut oil</i>.&#8212;</span>Cocoa-nut oil is made in the province of Laguna and in Bisayas. That coming from the Laguna is of the best quality, and generally
+sells for a good deal more than the Bisayas oil, which does not give so good a light, and has a worse smell than the other.
+The manufacturing processes employed in producing it are very rude in both of these districts, although that followed in Laguna
+is the better of the two; but both are bad. It has been proposed, however, to remedy this by establishing proper machinery
+at Manilla for carrying on its production on a large scale, as is done in Ceylon.
+<a id="d0e3904"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3904">299</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The chief difficulty of exporting the article appears to be the want of knowledge of the proper means of seasoning the tanks
+in which it is shipped. These have not as yet been well made at Manilla; and some merchants have been in the habit of getting
+their empty tanks from Batavia, as they are usually better made there than they are procurable in Manilla. The best mode of
+seasoning them appears to be, to fill them all with oil, and to place them in the sun, after being well coopered, above a
+large vat or other receptacle to catch all the oil which may leak out of them; and after they have stood for some time in
+this way, the pores of the wood get filled up by the oil, which prevents further leakage.
+
+</p>
+<p>When filled with water, as has been the practice for some time past at Manilla, on the oil being shipped, the effect, as has
+been found, is to increase its leakage over what the casks lose when they have not been filled with water, but left altogether
+alone, as water expands the wood, while oil causes it to shrink. By attention to the preparation of the casks at Colombo in
+Ceylon in this manner, they are able to send home oil in old beer casks, &amp;c., which, of course, enables them to avoid a great
+deal of unnecessary <a id="d0e3909"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3909">300</a>]</span>expense. Perhaps a small quantity of boiling hot oil poured into a cask, which should then be rolled about so that the oil
+might wet every part of it, would cause it to shrink more speedily than by exposing it to the sun for about six weeks. I am
+not aware, however, of this having ever been tried.
+
+</p>
+<p>Cocoa is grown among plaintain-trees, which afford it some shade, and protect it from the excessive slow heat, which kills
+it.
+
+</p>
+<p>Although the growth of cocoa is at present very small, did any one take the trouble to bestow the necessary care and attention
+it demands, the crop might be very greatly augmented. The best is now grown in Cebu, although, from Samar, Misamis, and Batangas,
+the Manilla market is also supplied, but it is only saleable at about twenty-three dollars per pecul, while the Cebu grown
+fetches about twenty-seven dollars per pecul.
+
+</p>
+<p>Very little is exported, and the chocolate made in Manilla is nearly all consumed there. Supplies occasionally come from Guayaquil
+of a quality very similar to that of Cebu.
+
+</p>
+<p>All the efforts hitherto made to send cocoa to Spain, without its deteriorating in quality, by getting spotted, &amp;c., have
+been unsuccessful.
+<a id="d0e3919"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3919">301</a>]</span></p>
+<p><i>Coffee.</i>&#8212;Although there have been efforts made at various times to promote this valuable branch of agricultural industry, by holding
+out to the natives rewards in money for a certain number of plants in a state of bearing, it has not as yet had the effect
+of greatly promoting its growth. Tayabas and Laguna are provinces from which most of it comes to Manilla, but this it does
+by very small lots at a time, and generally uncleaned, which the provincial traders have to do here. The quality of most of
+that grown at these places is fully equal to that of Java, from which, however, it differs a good deal in flavour. The French,
+who take off the bulk of the crop, are fonder of its peculiar taste than most other people, and prefer it to other descriptions.
+
+</p>
+<p>Pepper is grown to a very limited extent in Tayabas, and is all consumed in the country, although in former years some has
+been exported from that province.
+
+</p>
+<p>Opium could be grown in the greatest perfection in several places of the Philippines, where the white poppy abounds in the
+utmost luxuriance; but Government do not choose to permit its growth and manufacture, except in the immediate vicinity of
+Manilla, although I believe there is a <a id="d0e3928"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3928">302</a>]</span>permission to do so there, where, however, there is no soil suitable for the growth of the plant. There are many places, also,
+which would subject the planters of it to the nearly unlimited control of the police, whose interference alone would be so
+vexatious and unpleasant as to deter any one from attempting its growth, even did the stringent regulations laid down with
+reference to it not do so; such as exactly counting the number of plants, and being forced to deposit all the drug in the
+custom-house for export, for the permission to do which twenty-five per cent. would have to be paid to the Government. These
+regulations are a virtual prohibition to engage in its cultivation, as no prudent man is at all likely to embark his capital
+in such an enterprise while they exist.
+
+</p>
+<p>In consequence of the heavy duty imposed upon opium, to discourage its importation, the greater portion of the drug consumed
+in the country is smuggled into it by the masters of the Spanish trading-vessels from China or Singapore.
+
+</p>
+<p>Government farm out the privilege of supplying the market with opium to the highest bidder, who seldom, however, imports many
+chests for its consumption; but what he does <a id="d0e3934"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3934">303</a>]</span>sell is usually at a very large advance on the prices paid for it in another market.
+
+</p>
+<p>How much better were it for the Government to attempt to regulate the trade of this article instead of doing all in their
+power to suppress it, in which they can never be successful, so long as Chinamen and their descendants remain with the tastes
+that now belong to them. Can there be any prohibition against the introduction of opium more strong than that of the Chinese
+Government? and are there any more useless, or any laws more openly evaded? It is impossible to extirpate the taste, but it
+would be easy to regulate and in some degree control it; and these are the proper and legitimate aims of a Government.
+
+</p>
+<p>Under proper management and increased facilities for the planter to rear opium, the Philippines, merely from their situation,
+would rule the China market for the drug, which would employ multitudes of people in its growth and manufacture, and be a
+source of immense wealth to the country.
+
+</p>
+<p>Some one will object that it is an immoral trade, which caters to the worst passions of the nature of the Chinese. Let it
+be proved so; let us see something more than mere prejudice; let <a id="d0e3942"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3942">304</a>]</span>it be shown to be worse than the conduct of the farmer, at home, who raises and sells barley to make whiskey; or of the distiller,
+who makes it; or of the West Indian, who produces rum from his estate, as both of these stimulants increase the evil passions
+in men while swayed by them, to a much greater extent than opium.
+
+</p>
+<p>Smoking tobacco does no good to the person who practises it; it is a vice, although those addicted to it may call it one of
+the lesser sins. But would it be just or wise to prohibit the growth of tobacco, because smoking it may not be a virtue?
+
+</p>
+<p>To attempt stopping the use of opium is no wiser, and just as futile, in China, as King Jamie&#8217;s foolish decrees against tobacco
+proved to be in Britain.
+
+</p>
+<p>Wheat is grown in the provinces of Ylocos, Tayabas, and the Laguna, but is seldom or never more than enough to supply the
+wants of the European population, none of it being exported; and the import of foreign wheat is prohibited, although it is
+frequently conceded to the bakers, on their memorialising the Governor, and showing that the prices at the time of their doing
+so are excessively high.
+<a id="d0e3950"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3950">305</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Although sulphur can scarcely be ranked in the same category with the preceding articles of commerce, I set it down here,
+as a considerable quantity is annually shipped to China. It is brought from the vicinity of the volcanoes in Bisayas: the
+best is said to come from Leyte, which is worth about one and a quarter dollar per pecul. Residents at Manilla usually immerse
+a large block, weighing about two peculs, in the wells from which their drinking water is taken, just as the rainy season
+commences, and it is found to have a most salutary effect upon the water impregnated with it, causing less liability to those
+who drink it, to suffer dysentery from its use.
+
+</p>
+<p>Cowries, the shells of a small snail, are found on the shores of several islands, and are shipped as an article of commerce
+to Singapore, &amp;c., where they are, I believe, purchased by the Siam and Calcutta traders, as they serve for money in several
+of the countries of Asia. Those found on Sibuyan island, in Capiz province, are considered the best, being the smallest and
+stoutest. They are sold by the cavan, weighing nearly a pecul, if of good quality, at about two dollars per cavan.
+<a id="d0e3955"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3955">306</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Pitch, or tar, is brought from Tayabas to Manilla, in boxes or baskets, and is employed, I believe, principally by the shipwrights
+there, in the prosecution of their business. Some of the natives also use it for making torches, it being cheaper than oil.
+
+</p>
+<p>Betel-nut, or areca, is, as is well known, used nearly all over Asia, all the natives of which are excessively fond of the
+taste the mastication of it produces in their mouths. The prepared leaf is called a <i>buyo</i> in the Philippines, when it is spread over with lime, and a morsel of betel-nut enclosed in it. Immense quantities of it
+are consumed in the islands and in China, and in former times, I believe, it formed a branch of the excise revenue.
+
+</p>
+<p><i>Hides.</i>&#8212;The quantity of buffalo hides shipped to China and Europe is considerable. Those exported to China are sometimes shipped
+without being salted, although it is necessary that all those sent on so long a voyage as it is to Europe should undergo that
+process. Buffalo hide cuttings are generally prepared for shipment by being immersed in lime-water, from which they are withdrawn
+perfectly white and coated with lime.
+<a id="d0e3967"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3967">307</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Buffalo hides weigh about 21 lbs. a-piece, and cow, only about the half of that. Deer hides are also sometimes, though rarely,
+cured and exported.
+
+</p>
+<p>The beef of the buffalo, cow, and deer, is cured for the China market, by being salted and allowed to dry in the sun: it is
+then called <i>sapa</i><a id="d0e3974"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: ">.</span>
+
+</p>
+<p>Tamarinds, which are called sampaloc by the natives, are seldom exported for sale.
+
+</p>
+<p>The woods of the country are various and valuable; but, perhaps, the best known for its useful properties, is the Sapan dye-wood,
+called sibocao. It comes from various provinces; but principally from Yloylo and <a id="d0e3981"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Pangasnian">Pangasinan</span>.
+
+</p>
+<p>Good wood is stout, straight, well-coloured, and with no appearance or trace of water having been used to heighten it, which
+may be easily detected on a careful inspection, although the unwary have on several occasions been known to have purchased,
+and shipped home to Britain, quantities of the common firewood in place of it, as after being wetted, it acquires the colour
+of Sapan-wood, sufficiently to deceive an ignorant or careless purchaser.
+
+</p>
+<p>Nearly all of the straight wood is sent to Europe, and the roots to China and Calcutta, <a id="d0e3988"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3988">308</a>]</span>where they are said to be quite as well liked as straight wood, and beyond a doubt they produce more dye than the latter.
+
+</p>
+<p>The mountains of the Philippines are clothed with numberless varieties of woods of almost every description of Oriental timber;
+but the markets of Europe being so distant, and the cost of freight to them so enormous, very few are sent there, except,
+perhaps, ebony and molave, although several beautiful descriptions of wood are employed by the cabinet-makers of the country
+and those of China, some of which are of superior beauty to anything I have ever seen at home when made up into furniture.
+
+</p>
+<p>The ebony principally comes from Cagayan and Camarines, the wood from which is perfectly dark, and as good as any I know of.
+The Cagayan wood is very beautiful, being marked by broad black and white, or black and yellow stripes; it takes a polish
+very well, and forms a peculiarly fine timber for the cabinet-makers to exercise their skill upon, its rays producing magnificent
+tables, &amp;c.
+
+</p>
+<p>Molave is a wood of great solidity, and of incredibly lasting properties; and it resists, better than all others, exposure
+to the weather. It is <a id="d0e3996"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3996">309</a>]</span>said to become petrified when immersed for some time in water, and in fact it appears to be nearly as lasting and incorruptible
+as stone itself. It is employed for nearly all purposes, and large quantities of it are shipped to China.
+
+</p>
+<p>Narra is a common description of red wood, somewhat resembling mahogany, which occasions it to be largely used in cabinet-making.
+From the lower parts of this tree I have seen a table exceeding two yards square, cut out, in one piece.
+
+</p>
+<p>Tindal wood resembles narra, but has a higher colour than the latter, which, however, gets sobered, and becomes darker by
+age.
+
+</p>
+<p>Alintatas is of a beautiful yellow colour.
+
+</p>
+<p>Malatapay is also yellow, or rather coffee-coloured, and is well veined for ornament.
+
+</p>
+<p>Lanete is a white wood, and is made use of for a variety of purposes.
+
+</p>
+<p>All the preceding woods are capable of being made into furniture of a very handsome and valuable description, and were they
+better known in Europe, would be largely employed for that purpose, as people would be willing to purchase them for their
+beauty, even at the high prices which the distance and expense of transit would occasion.
+<a id="d0e4010"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4010">310</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Among the common useful woods for ship-building and other purposes, may be mentioned the banaba and mangachapuy: the latter
+does not stand water well, however.
+
+</p>
+<p>Yacal, for beams and joists of houses, &amp;c., and a tall, straight wood, called <i>Palo Maria</i>, is valuable for supplying spars, &amp;c., to the shipping of the colony.
+
+</p>
+<p>Baticulin, for cutting up into boards or deals.
+
+</p>
+<p>Dungo unites strength and solidity to an immense size.
+
+</p>
+<p>Teak is found in Zamboanga, and its value is too well known to require any remark upon it.
+
+</p>
+<p>Ypil is brought to Manilla from Yloylo, and being a very lasting and hard timber, is of the greatest value, and is applied
+to a variety of uses.
+
+</p>
+<p>These are some of the many species of woods abounding in the country, whose number and value are yearly increasing as they
+become better known to the foreign timber merchants of China and elsewhere. The China market alone would take off greatly
+increased supplies, were they allowed to ship the timber from the ports next to where the woodman&#8217;s axe had felled the tree,
+in place of forcing it to bear all the heavy charges <a id="d0e4028"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4028">311</a>]</span>which its transport to Manilla in the first instance now subjects it to.
+
+</p>
+<p>The investigations of Don Rafael Arenao have been of great service to me in forming a list of these; and for several other
+particulars scattered throughout the preceding pages I have to thank him.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e4032"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4032">312</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2>
+<p>The money current in the Philippines consists of Spanish and South American dollar pieces principally, although no two of
+them have precisely the same weight in silver. Thus the Chilian dollar of 1833 had 456&middot;24 grains of pure metal, while that
+of the Rio de la Plata has only 441&middot;24 grains of silver.
+
+</p>
+<p>Nearly all the Mexican dollars differ in their quantity of pure silver; for example, that of the coinage of 1832 had only
+442&middot;80, while that of 1833 had 451&middot;20 grains of pure metal. The old Spanish dollar has 445&middot;08 grains of pure silver, and the
+half dollar 222&middot;48 grains; while the Bolivian half dollar has only 168&middot;60 grains of pure silver; and the Bolivian quarter-dollar
+piece <a id="d0e4040"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4040">313</a>]</span>has only 84&middot;84 grains of pure silver; while the standard Spanish quarter-piece contains 111&middot;24 grains of unalloyed silver.
+
+</p>
+<p>The golden doubloon, weighing an ounce, is worth sixteen dollars in Manilla, although it usually sells for considerably less
+in China.
+
+</p>
+<p>Both of these coins are subdivided into halves and quarter-pieces, and the dollar is divided into eight reals, one of which
+is equal to two and a half reals of the vellon money current in the Peninsula; and the Manilla real is represented by a copper
+currency of seventeen cuartos. In calculations, however, the real is divided into twelve parts by an imaginary coin called
+grains; so that by $3. 2. 6. would be understood three dollars, two reals, and a half real, or three dollars and five-sixteenth
+parts of a dollar.
+
+</p>
+<p>The copper money in circulation is so scanty, as to be perfectly inadequate for the purpose; and at the time of my leaving
+Manilla, the usual charge for exchanging a dollar for copper money was a quartillo, or the quarter of a real, worth about
+a penny halfpenny of English money.
+
+</p>
+<p>In consequence of this scarcity, the natives are in the habit of employing cigars as money, to represent the smaller coins;
+and all over the Philippines <a id="d0e4050"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4050">314</a>]</span>a cigar is actually the most important circulating medium, each representing a cuarto.
+
+</p>
+<p>At various times the scarcity of copper coins has given rise to extensive forgeries of them, and caused a considerable depreciation
+in their actual value, the false coinage being all of spurious metal.
+
+</p>
+<p>The gold which is found at Pictas, in <a id="d0e4056"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: Misauris">Misamis</span>, and at Mambalao, Paracala, and Surigao, is consumed in the country in ornaments, &amp;c., and some of it is sent also to China.
+The amount annually produced at these places is very uncertain; and the quantity exported to China is probably a good deal
+more than the amount set down in the tabular statement, it being a thing of so very easy export, that I should suppose at
+least an equal number of taels are sent there privately, to what appears in the table to have passed the Custom-house.
+
+</p>
+<p>Its value in Manilla varies, according to quality, at from twenty dollars a tael down to fourteen for the inferior sorts.
+
+
+
+<a id="d0e4061"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4061">315</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1">
+<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXXV.</h2>
+<p>After travelling so far together, the reader will permit me to direct his attention to the geographical position and natural
+advantages of the Philippines, which are unequalled by any other islands in the whole eastern Archipelago. Their vicinity
+to the immensely populous empire of China is in itself enough to render them a most flourishing colony.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Spanish and local governments are alive to the importance of this, and appear desirous to encourage trade to a limited
+extent, but are apparently anxious to hold the reins of it, and to regulate it as they deem best for themselves, or at any
+time to put a stop to it entirely.
+
+</p>
+<p>The evils arising from the changeable elements <a id="d0e4071"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4071">316</a>]</span>given birth to by their interference it is difficult to over-estimate, as from the ignorance, which prevails through all classes,
+of the first elements of a commonwealth, and from their capricious notions of government, and want of knowledge of the advantages
+of liberality and of the facilities given to the prosecution of commerce, few persons of prudence care to expose their capital
+very extensively to the chances of trade.
+
+</p>
+<p>At present the Philippines want some infusion of foreign capital and energy into the veins and local arteries of the country,
+which, backed by the enlightened application of science, would cause these islands to emerge from the obscurity now surrounding
+them, and force them to assume the important position for which nature has apparently destined them.
+
+</p>
+<p>This will not come to pass until the present opinions of the Government and people are considerably changed with reference
+to their commercial legislation, or until all government interference in affairs of that nature is left off, so far as the
+interests of the revenue will permit, when the people will be insensibly but wisely taught by experience to rely upon themselves
+alone.
+
+</p>
+<p>The principles of commerce, and the wealth of <a id="d0e4079"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4079">317</a>]</span>nations, as laid down by Adam Smith in his great work, which is almost deserving of immortality for the truths it tells mankind,
+are as true and as sure in practice as they are in theory; and should the wisdom and truth of his investigations ever be applied
+to the commercial regulations of these islands, it is difficult to foretell the destiny that may ultimately await them.
+
+</p>
+<p>It appears to me to be as unwise to attempt to restrain the course of nature and its fruits, aided by the energies of man
+to <a id="d0e4083"></a><span class="corr" title="Source: develope">develop</span> or to use them, as it would be to bind down the mind of a man of genius, or of a poet, in order to prevent their operation,
+or to hinder the great conceptions of their muse, or the scientific research which a bright genius renders serviceable to
+his fellow mortals, from ever seeing the light. No one will defend the justice or wisdom of the time which forbade Galileo
+to publish, or even himself to believe in, his great discoveries; but is that more unjust than the policy of rulers, who shut
+up from the beings whom God has created to use them, the fruits of our common mother, the earth?
+
+</p>
+<p>It is equally absurd to prevent and to prohibit <a id="d0e4088"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4088">318</a>]</span>in either case; but notwithstanding this, the passions and prejudices of mankind are violent enough to permit of the one,
+although they would by no means suffer the other. Wisdom and passion can seldom or never accompany each other.
+
+</p>
+<p>Philanthropy will ultimately banish from our codes all such regulations as tend to check the fruitfulness of the soil and
+its use by man, who has been endowed with reason in order that he may assist the operations of nature. The constant and unrestricted
+use of the bounties of nature does not lead to their abuse; the contrary is the fact, for it is only when our appetites are
+excited by the obstacles to their attainment that they become excessively indulged and depraved.
+
+</p>
+<p>The illiberality of the Government places the existing position of foreigners in rather an equivocal position, for they are
+only there upon sufferance; and in the event of any disturbance, such as happened at Manilla in 1820, or of a war between
+the two nations, what would become of the foreigners or of their property?
+
+</p>
+<p>It has already been shown to the world that our fellow-subjects at Manilla in 1820, might be <a id="d0e4096"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4096">319</a>]</span>murdered in the streets like dogs, and no retribution be demanded by their Government; and to this day their personal liberty
+and property can at any time be endangered by the caprice of the Governor or of his subordinates.
+
+</p>
+<p>In 1848, an alcalde laid hold of a number of British subjects, and threw them suddenly into prison, because he happened one
+day to discover that the time for their permission to remain in the country had years ago expired, which all of them had been
+led to expect it was quite unnecessary to have renewed so long as they remained quiet and well-conducted members of the community.
+As the alcalde did not know very well what to do with them when he had got them into the jail, he kept them there for a few
+days till he had smoked a good deal, and thought a little about them, and then he told the jailor to let them out again.
+
+</p>
+<p>Our trade with China would be materially improved by the attention of Her Majesty&#8217;s Foreign Secretary being directed to the
+position of the Philippines in connection with our own interests with them, and with the great empire adjoining them. Besides,
+it is a shame to ourselves <a id="d0e4102"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4102">320</a>]</span>that such things should exist in the colony, not only of a friendly European power, but of one so much indebted, as Spain
+is, to the valour of our arms for her independence, and to our liberality for possessing this colony at all.
+
+
+
+</p>THE END.
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="back">
+<div class="div1">
+<p class="aligncenter">PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SON,<br>
+London Gazette Office, St. Martin&#8217;s Lane; and Orchard Street, Westminster.
+
+
+</p>
+<div class="transcribernote">
+<h2>Colophon</h2>
+<h3>Availability</h3>
+<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give
+it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org.
+
+
+</p>
+<h3>Encoding</h3>
+<p>Italic text has been marked <i>high lighted</i> without further analysis. Text in <span class="smallcaps">small caps</span> and <b>bold</b> has been marked idem ditto.
+
+</p>
+<p>Apparent errors in the text have been corrected. Corrections have been marked with the &lt;corr&gt; tag, and the original text has
+been given with the sic attribute. Where no correction can be supplied, or the text appears to be strange, but not erroneous,
+this has been marked with the &lt;sic&gt; tag.
+
+</p>
+<p>The spelling &#8220;Manilla&#8221; for &#8220;Manila&#8221; has been retained.
+
+</p>
+<p>End-of-line hyphens in the source have been silently removed. Where a hyphenated word was on a page boundary, the page break
+is indicated after such a word.
+
+</p>
+<h3>Revision History</h3>
+<ul>
+<li>25-DEC-2002 Added TEI tagging.
+
+</li>
+</ul>
+<h3>Corrections</h3>
+<p>The following corrections have been applied to the text:</p>
+<table width="75%">
+<tr>
+<th>Location</th>
+<th>Source</th>
+<th>Correction</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e111">Page iii</a></td>
+<td width="40%">bonud</td>
+<td width="40%">bound</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e157">Page 5</a></td>
+<td width="40%">ganied</td>
+<td width="40%">gained</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e368">Page 38</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Vangleys</td>
+<td width="40%">Sangleys</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e502">Page 58</a></td>
+<td width="40%">throug</td>
+<td width="40%">through</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e687">Page 80</a></td>
+<td width="40%">houses</td>
+<td width="40%">horses</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e877">Page 108</a></td>
+<td width="40%">becomes</td>
+<td width="40%">become</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e998">Page 125</a></td>
+<td width="40%">
+[<i>Not in source</i>]
+
+</td>
+<td width="40%">of</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1079">Page 139</a></td>
+<td width="40%">shotting</td>
+<td width="40%">shooting</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1096">Page 141</a></td>
+<td width="40%">cannonading</td>
+<td width="40%">carronading</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1111">Page 143</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Pampamga</td>
+<td width="40%">Pampanga</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1114">Page 143</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Pampamgans</td>
+<td width="40%">Pampangans</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1305">Page 167</a></td>
+<td width="40%">anzones</td>
+<td width="40%">lanzones</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1606">Page 206</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Camanires</td>
+<td width="40%">Camarines</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1747">Page 221</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasnian</td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasinan</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1810">Page 227</a></td>
+<td width="40%">bobbinnet</td>
+<td width="40%">bobbinet</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1815">Page 228</a></td>
+<td width="40%">pina</td>
+<td width="40%">pi&ntilde;a</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1864">Page 235</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Autique</td>
+<td width="40%">Antique</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1979">Page 250</a></td>
+<td width="40%">longer</td>
+<td width="40%">linger</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e2054">Page 263</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Autique</td>
+<td width="40%">Antique</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e2122">Page 270</a></td>
+<td width="40%">
+[<i>Not in source</i>]
+
+</td>
+<td width="40%">,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e2957">Page 278</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasnian</td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasinan</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e2960">Page 278</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Autique</td>
+<td width="40%">Antique</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e3062">Page 281</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasnian</td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasinan</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e3067">Page 281</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasnian</td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasinan</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e3088">Page 284</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasnian</td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasinan</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e3110">Page 287</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Camamies</td>
+<td width="40%">Camarines</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e3645">Page 288</a></td>
+<td width="40%">
+[<i>Not in source</i>]
+
+</td>
+<td width="40%">4</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e3893">Page 298</a></td>
+<td width="40%">
+[<i>Not in source</i>]
+
+</td>
+<td width="40%">Cotton.&#8212;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e3899">Page 298</a></td>
+<td width="40%">
+[<i>Not in source</i>]
+
+</td>
+<td width="40%">Cocoa-nut oil.&#8212;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e3974">Page 307</a></td>
+<td width="40%">
+[<i>Not in source</i>]
+
+</td>
+<td width="40%">.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e3981">Page 307</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasnian</td>
+<td width="40%">Pangasinan</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e4056">Page 314</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Misauris</td>
+<td width="40%">Misamis</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e4083">Page 317</a></td>
+<td width="40%">develope</td>
+<td width="40%">develop</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
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+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/20189.txt b/20189.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f41caa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20189.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6656 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines, by
+Robert Mac Micking
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines
+       During 1848, 1849 and 1850
+
+Author: Robert Mac Micking
+
+Release Date: December 26, 2006 [EBook #20189]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS OF MANILLA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Clare Boothby, Jeroen Hellingman and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         RECOLLECTIONS
+
+                               OF
+
+                  MANILLA AND THE PHILIPPINES,
+
+                  DURING 1848, 1849, AND 1850.
+
+
+
+
+                               BY
+
+                    ROBERT MAC MICKING, ESQ.
+
+
+
+
+                            LONDON:
+            RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
+             Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
+
+                             1851.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+The Philippines, in many respects situated most advantageously
+for trade, having long been governed by a people whose notions of
+government and political economy have never produced the happiest
+results in any of their once numerous and important colonies, appear
+at last to be slowly reaping the benefit of the new commercial maxims
+now in course of operation, in Spain, and show symptoms of progressing
+with increased speed in the march of civilization, encouraged by
+commerce. As such a state is always interesting, more especially to
+my countrymen, whose commercial and manufacturing welfare is closely
+bound up with the rate at which civilization advances in every part
+of the world, I have attempted to give some idea of the actual state
+and prospects of this valuable colony, as they appeared to me during a
+residence there of the three years 1848-9-50, with the double object
+of directing more attention to these islands than has hitherto been
+paid to them by our merchants and manufacturers, and of deriving
+some employment in doing so, during a tedious voyage from Singapore
+to Hongkong, when, being in a great measure debarred from personal
+activity, an interesting occupation was felt to be more than usually
+necessary to engage the mind.
+
+There are many imperfections in the execution of my task; but for these
+the critical reader is requested to make some allowance, and entreated
+not to forget the inconveniences all landsmen are subjected to at sea.
+
+                                                    September, 1851.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         RECOLLECTIONS
+
+                               OF
+
+                  MANILLA AND THE PHILIPPINES.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+About the time the Spanish arms under Hernan Cortez, Pizarro, and
+Almagro, were meeting with their most splendid successes in America,
+the thought occurred to Hernando Magallanes, a Portuguese gentleman
+in the service of King Charles the Fifth of Spain, that if by sailing
+south he could pass the new Western World, it would be possible to
+reach the famous Spice Islands of the East, which he supposed to
+contain untold-of wealth in their bosoms. This vast, and, in the
+state of their knowledge at the time, apparently hardy and even rash
+idea, met with approval by the King, who honoured Magallanes with
+the distinguished military order of Santiago, and appointed him to
+the command of a squadron which he immediately set about fitting out
+to accomplish the project, with the view of conquering and annexing
+these islands to his crown.
+
+At length, when all the preparations were completed, on the 10th of
+August, 1519, six ships, no one of which exceeded 130 tons, and some
+of them being less than half that size, sailed from the port of San
+Lucan de Barrameda on this bold and perilous enterprise.
+
+In the prosecution of their voyage, many obstacles were encountered;
+but everything disappeared before the ardour of their chief,
+who, discovering, passed through the Straits of Magellan, which
+alone immortalize his name, and spreading his sails to the gale,
+stood boldly with his squadron, now reduced to three crazy vessels,
+into the unknown and vast ocean which lay open before him, with all
+the hardihood characteristic of his time, traversing in its utmost
+breadth the Pacific, without, however, chancing to meet with any of
+the numerous islands now scattered throughout its extent. At last,
+the Mariana or Ladrone Islands were descried on the 16th of August,
+1521, and a few days afterwards a cape on the east coast of Mindanao
+was seen.
+
+Coasting along the shores of Caraga, the ships anchored off Limasna,
+where Magallanes was well received by the natives of the place;
+from thence steering towards Cebu, he managed to establish a good
+understanding with the country people, although upwards of two
+thousand of them had assembled, armed with spears and javelins,
+to oppose his landing.
+
+Having constructed a house at this place, in order that mass might
+be decently said, he landed to hear it, accompanied by his crews.
+
+The royal family of Cebu, curious to observe the manners of their
+strange visitors, attended its celebration, and, as the story
+goes, were so much edified by the sight, that they were baptized
+Christians, and an oath of allegiance and vassalage to the King of
+Spain administered to them; and their example being followed to a
+great extent by the nobles and people of Cebu, the Christian forms
+of faith and the symbolic cross were planted by the Spaniards in the
+country of the antipodes.
+
+Some time afterwards, Magallanes met the end which best becomes a
+brave and good soldier, by dying in the battle-field in the cause of
+his new friends and allies.
+
+But without his master-mind to direct them, things no longer went
+on so smoothly between the Spaniards and the natives; and under his
+successor, the hostile feelings then given birth to, soon found a
+tragical vent, which resulted in a number of the white men being
+cruelly massacred by their Indian hosts, and in the flight of
+their companions, who, fearful of their own safety, made all sail
+on their ships, and bore away, leaving their unfortunate countrymen
+to their fate, without attempting and even refusing to ransom such
+of them whose lives were spared, from having been less obnoxious to
+the Indians than the others. This fatal accident left the surviving
+crews so much weakened in numerical strength, that not having men
+enough left to work all the ships, the "Concepcion" was set fire to,
+and the survivors steered towards the Moluccas.
+
+It were tedious to follow them through all their adventures; suffice
+it to say, that Juan Sebastian de El Cano was the only captain who
+succeeded in taking his ship home again round the Cape of Good
+Hope. After many anxieties and vicissitudes he entered the same
+port of San Lucar from which he had sailed about three years before;
+and as a memento of his skill and of his being the first navigator
+who had made the circuit of the world, the king granted him for an
+armorial bearing, a globe, with the legend, "Primus circumdedit me,"
+which he had thus so honourably gained.
+
+At intervals of about four years between each other, three separate
+expeditions were fitted out from Spain and America for these islands,
+which were named "_Las Felipinas_" by Villalobos, commander of the
+last of these squadrons, in honour of the then Prince of Asturias,
+afterwards better known as King Philip the Second of Spain.
+
+In the meantime the Portuguese, jealous of the vicinity of such
+powerful neighbours as the Spaniards, to their empire of the East
+which Vasco de Gama and Albuquerque had so brilliantly founded
+for their country, took advantage of the financial distress of the
+Spanish king, who was then arming against France and Germany, and
+for an inconsiderable amount purchased his right of conquest over
+all the Philippines.
+
+But they did not long retain them; for on Prince Philip of the Asturias
+becoming King of Spain he regained the islands by breaking through
+the treaty which confirmed their sale. Having, in 1564, appointed
+Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi commander of an expedition fitted out
+for the purpose of reacquiring them, and having made him Governor and
+Adelantado of all the countries he could conquer,--which now-a-days
+appears to be rather a vague commission, but was then a custom of that
+venturous time,--that dignitary reached the Philippines, which had
+been altogether neglected by the Portuguese, and without difficulty
+re-established Spanish supremacy over the group, of which he may be
+considered as the first governor.
+
+Their favorable reception by the natives rendered the acquisition
+altogether, or nearly, a bloodless one, for the warriors who gained
+them over to Spain were not their steel-clad chivalry, but the
+soldiers of the cross:--the priests, who, going out among a simple
+but somewhat passionate people, astonished and kindled them by their
+enthusiasm in the cause of Christ; while the novel doctrines they
+taught so enthusiastically, aided by the usual splendid accompaniments
+of that religion, captivated their senses, and took possession of
+their imaginations.
+
+Manilla was founded on the island of Luzon, the most important
+of all the islands in the group; and the situation of the new
+capital on the shore of a long bay, into which flow numerous rivers,
+bringing down from the interior of a fertile country through which
+they run, its varied and valuable produce, has secured for it
+prosperity and commercial importance. A trade with China sprang up,
+and its commencement was soon followed by many emigrants from that
+densely-peopled country, whose habits of industry and prudence very
+soon began to increase and develope the natural fertility of the soil,
+and whose numerous descendants have mingled with the native character
+some of those useful virtues which it seems scarcely probable they
+would possess but for this slight mixture of blood.
+
+Alas, that priestly ambition and the desire of domination should
+in time usurp the place of those laborious, enthusiastic, and
+pious missionaries who, so happily for the natives, had managed
+to revolutionize their minds, and so spared their country those
+scenes of blood which blot with a fearful stain the history
+of Spanish power in America. But the influence of churchmen,
+as usual, in the Philippines, was not always to be well directed;
+for the merciless Inquisition having established itself at Manilla,
+commenced its terrible career. No one was safe, none were exempt
+from its powers; its emissaries penetrated even into the palace of
+the Governor. Moderation in religion, or remissness in its strictest
+observances, became crimes, punishable by the severest discipline of
+that fearful and cruel establishment. All attempts, even when aided
+or directed by the authority and influence of the highest officials,
+to lessen its power, proved unsuccessful; and frequently a _Bishop_
+was chosen to occupy the Governor-general's place, to perform his civil
+and military duties! Everything was in the hands of the churchmen,
+the subsequent effects of which were demonstrated to the world by the
+easy success of the British expedition of 1762, which they permitted
+to enter the bay without opposition, having passed the fortified
+island of Corregidor at its entrance without a shot being fired to
+prevent them. And the same effects caused but a feeble resistance to
+be opposed to their arms, and the speedy surrender of Manilla by its
+priest-ridden and effeminate defenders.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The Government of Spain has, ever since the period of their
+acquisition, shown itself ignorant or neglectful of the commercial
+importance of these islands, the commerce of which has long been
+subjected to regulations and restrictions as injurious in their
+tendency as can well be imagined,--they being framed, apparently at
+least, more for the purpose of smothering it in its earliest existence
+than with any kindly or paternal views of nourishing and increasing it.
+
+But a change having at length once begun, a new era may be said
+to have commenced with regard to them, and it is to be hoped that
+increasing wisdom and liberality of ideas may clear away some of the
+remaining obstacles which for so long encumbered, and even yet impede
+and circumscribe within a very narrow circle, the natural course of
+their commerce. For the Spanish Government are far from following a
+similar policy to that of the great Henry the Fourth of France, who,
+as an encouragement to the manufacturing industry of the country,
+rewarded those silk manufacturers who had carried on business for
+twelve years, with patents of nobility, as men who by doing so not
+only benefited themselves, but deserved well of their country for
+their enterprise and commercial spirit. Don Simon Anda was about
+the first person who showed any desire to augment the trade of the
+islands; and his election to the highest offices of the colony,
+after its restoration by the English, was a most fortunate event for
+Manilla. Although, unluckily, many of the steps he took with the best
+intentions, notwithstanding being infinitely in advance of those of
+his predecessors in office, were not always in the right direction,
+and consequently unattended by the highest degree of success which he
+aimed at, partial good results were obtained by them, and a beneficial
+change began to regulate affairs.
+
+The expulsion of the Jesuits from the Philippines in 1768, by throwing
+their immense estates out of cultivation, and also the wars and
+disturbances subsequent to the French Revolution, being felt even in
+this remote part of the world, were attended with the worst effects
+to the trade and agriculture of the islands. On the peace of 1814,
+the condition of the country was truly deplorable, as, during a
+long period of isolation and inactivity, abuses had multiplied to an
+alarming extent, and the minds of the Indian population especially
+had become divided between superstition and sedition, from each of
+which a sanguinary catastrophe resulted. Public opinion at the time
+fastened on the priests the guilt of the massacre of the Protestant
+foreigners at Manilla in 1820, and the growing discontent of the
+people blew into open rebellion in 1823, under a Creole leader,
+who then rose and attempted to shake off the Spanish authority.
+
+To give the reader some idea of the commercial regulations then
+existing, which helped, no doubt, to bring about these disorders,
+it may be mentioned that among many other things, even after the
+port of Manilla was thrown open to ships of all nations, the vessels
+belonging to that port itself were not allowed to trade with Europe,
+or to proceed beyond the Cape of Good Hope; and Government yet further
+limited their intercourse with the only ports of China and India
+which were open to them, by issuing passes to all colonial ships,
+the conditions of which were perfectly incompatible with the usual
+course of commerce, as they were required to return home directly
+from the port to which they were destined from Manilla, and were not
+at liberty to touch at, or have any intercourse with, other places
+than those specified in their passport.
+
+These absurd restrictions of course prevented a ship from profiting
+by any freight she might be offered at the port of her destination
+from Manilla, because the terms of her pass made it compulsory for
+her to return there before she could accept any new engagement such as
+might be offered her, and of course, in such a case, frequently forced
+them to decline most profitable business; consequently, the colonial
+shipowners found that they had to sail their vessels at a great
+disadvantage with all others who were free from such interference.
+
+Neither was the trade with Spain open to them, for the Trading Company
+numbered among their many other privileges, that of having the sole
+right of placing ships on the berth for the Peninsula.
+
+This state of things actually remained in force till 1820, when a
+royal order confirmed a decree of the Cortes exempting from all duties
+whatever any products of the Philippines which might be imported into
+Spain during the ensuing ten years; and this step may be considered
+as the first evidence of a desire shown by that Government to give
+an impulse to their colonial agriculture or to the manufactures and
+commerce of these splendid islands.
+
+This good work, having once begun, was followed up by the
+enlightened and benevolent government of Don Pascual Enrile, who was
+Captain-General of the Philippines from 1831 to 1835, and whose entire
+administration has left behind it the happiest results for the people
+he governed.
+
+Commencing his reform of the laws relating to navigation by giving
+passes to ships, for the period of two years, without requiring them
+to declare to what place or places they were bound, or might touch
+at during their absence from the port to which they belonged, he
+had an opportunity of satisfying himself of the good results ensuing
+from non-interference; and some time afterwards entirely loosed the
+fetters which burdened them, by giving colonial ships liberty to
+sail wherever they chose without restrictions as to time or place:
+and certainly, his doing so was an honour for the national flag,
+which then waved on every sea. These concessions proved alike wise
+and beneficent; and since the time of their being granted, the tonnage
+and commerce of Manilla has increased in an amazing degree, and still
+goes on prosperously augmenting Her Most Catholic Majesty's treasury,
+besides improving the condition of the people and the agriculture of
+the country.
+
+But this was far from being the only wise act of Governor Enrile,
+for under his administration a boon of even greater importance was
+secured to the country and the people of the colony, by the opening
+of internal communications throughout the Philippines. He established
+a comprehensive system of roads, and organised posts throughout the
+islands. Although most of the roads are now kept in most wretched
+order, yet being nearly always passable by horses, they are found
+to be of the utmost importance to the well-being of the country,
+even as they now exist.
+
+But should a time come when more attention will be bestowed upon them
+than now is, and new ones judiciously constructed in districts where
+they have not yet been, the agriculture of the islands will improve
+to a great degree, and corresponding advantages will follow in its
+train to be reaped by the Government that is enlightened enough to
+undertake them, and which is sensible enough to know what is most for
+its true interests. May that day soon come, for it will be a happy
+one to the Philippines and all belonging to them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+On approaching Manilla from the bay in one of the bancas--or canoes
+having a cover as a protection against the sun--which generally go off
+to all ships after their anchor has been let go, and the port-captain's
+boat has boarded the new arrival, the spires, towers of churches,
+and lofty red-tiled roofs of houses or convents are all that can be
+seen over the walls, so that the first impressions of a stranger are
+not in general very vivid or interesting.
+
+On reaching the murallon, your banca enters the waters of the Pasig
+river, prolonged by two piers into the bay, on the extreme point
+of one of which is situated a small fort garrisoned by a company
+of soldiers, and on the other the lighthouse, a most insignificant
+and nearly useless building. Passing these, the boatmen pull up the
+river to the garrita, a small round house, where the banca is vised
+by the people of the gun-boats, at all times stationed there for
+that purpose, and should there be any packages or baggage in it,
+the port-captain's deputy, or aide-de-camp, puts a guard on board,
+who conducts you to the custom-house for the purpose of having it
+inspected there; but the examination is generally not a very minute
+one, and personal effects are for the most part passed merely by
+opening the boxes and showing the tops of their contents, although
+you may be asked whether it contains either pocket-pistols or a bible,
+both of which are prohibited and seizable.
+
+The city of Manilla, ever since its foundation, which took place at
+a very early period of the Spanish power in Luzon, from the natural
+advantages combined in its situation--so judiciously chosen by
+them--continued to be the capital of the Philippines, whose history
+ever since may be said to have centered in the transactions which at
+various times have taken place under the shadow of its walls.
+
+It is built at the mouth of the river Pasig, on the low-lying and
+sandy point formed by its junctions with the waters of the bay,
+between which and the ditch that surrounds the walls on the seaward
+side, a level sward stretches along the beach.
+
+An Englishman, on arriving, perceives a marked difference between
+the place and people and any of his country's Indian possessions; the
+air he breathes, and the habits he gradually falls into from seeing
+them the customary ones of other people, are not the same as those
+of his countrymen in British India. Should he be fortunate enough to
+have arrived towards the end of the year, in addition to the greater
+coolness of the weather then usually prevalent, and so delightful in
+the tropics, he will most probably not want opportunities for enjoying
+himself; as, after suffering a penitential confinement to the house
+during the long rainy season, for some time before Christmas, the
+cool nights and other circumstances induce the residents to break out
+into greater gaiety than is prevalent at other seasons of the year;
+and amusement, about that time, generally appears to be the order of
+the day.
+
+The city is not unworthy of a curiosity seeker's visit. The town,
+within the fortifications, although not of great size, is for the
+most part well planned, the streets being straight, regular, and some
+of them kept clean and in good order, although many of the smaller
+ones are allowed to fall into great disrepair. They are too narrow,
+moreover, for the heat of the climate, as the confined air and stench
+frequently existing in them, are principally generated by their
+closeness, and more especially during the cool of the evening and
+early morning, are far from conducing to the health of the population.
+
+The latitude of the citadel, or Fuerza de Santiago, is 14 deg. 36' N.,
+longitude 127 deg. 15' E. of Cadiz, or in latitude 14 deg. 36' 8'' N., and
+longitude 120 deg. 53 1/2' E. of Greenwich.
+
+The fortifications surrounding the town are regular, and apparently
+strong, defences; but although the walls and ditch look formidable
+enough in themselves, the want of sufficient good artillery to
+protect them would probably be felt in the event of an assault,
+and might render the place not a very difficult prize to a large
+attacking force. But no invader need now-a-days expect to meet with
+such very easy success as attended our expedition last century,
+at a time when weak and priestly notions not only ruled the church,
+but governed the people and the camp.
+
+Very different feelings and modes of action are now prevalent among
+the white population, from those then in operation among them.
+
+For some years past the influx of fresh blood from Europe has been
+very much greater than in former times, the consequence of which
+is that a change is creeping over the place, from the energy and
+enterprize of the new comers.
+
+There is little doubt but that all this is for the best, and in the
+course of a few years more, I hope to hear that the Government,
+increasing in liberality and wisdom, will allow the natural
+capabilities of the Philippines to be developed, and their importance
+appreciated, by permitting foreigners to hold land and become planters,
+as without their capital and knowledge it will probably be a long
+time before the Spaniards of themselves attain these ends in the like
+perfection; such measures would ensure their doing so at once.
+
+By far the most populous and important part of the town of Manilla
+is situated without the walls, and on the other side of the river
+from the fortified city, the intermediate communication being by a
+handsome bridge, one of the eight arches of which, having given way
+to the shock of an earthquake, has not been rebuilt, but is replaced
+by wood. It has been proposed to construct a drawbridge at this point,
+so as to allow the colonial shipping to proceed up the river above the
+bridge, which they cannot now do. And should the project be carried
+into effect, it is likely that the small sized coasting vessels,
+when nothing better offers for them to do, will go on to the Laguna,
+and supersede the clumsy _cascos_ which now solely navigate the lake
+and bring down the produce of the fruitful country which surrounds it,
+to dispose of in the market of Manilla.
+
+Without the walls nearly all the trade is carried on, the Escolta
+and Rosario, on that side of the river, being the principal streets,
+built however without any regard to regularity, so that they are
+not handsome, but in them nearly all the best Chinamen's shops are
+situated. These are in general very small confined places, though
+crammed with manufactures, the produce of Manchester, Glasgow,
+Birmingham, and of many other European and Chinese manufacturing
+marts. Some of the shops may also be seen stuffed to the door with the
+valuable Pina cloth, huse, and other productions of the native looms.
+
+The great object of the Chinese shopmen appears to be, to show the
+most varied, and frequently miscellaneous, collection of goods in the
+smallest possible space; as, their shops being for the most part not
+more than ten feet broad towards the street, leaves but little space
+besides the doorway to display the attractions of their wares, and
+every inch has to be made the most of by them. These China shopkeepers
+have nearly driven all competition, except with each other out of the
+market,--very few Mestizos or Spaniards being able to live on the
+small profits which the competition among themselves has reduced
+them to. A China shopkeeper generally makes his shop his home,
+all of them sleeping in those confined dens at night, from which,
+on opening their doors about five in the morning, as they usually do,
+a most noisome and pestiferous smell issues and is diffused through
+the streets. The Mestizos cannot do this, but must have a house to
+live in out of the profits of the shop; and the consequence has been,
+that when their shopkeeping profits could no longer do that, they have
+nearly all betaken themselves to other more suitable occupations, from
+which the energies of their Chinese rivals are less likely to drive
+them. The number of Chinamen in Manilla and throughout the islands
+is very great, and nearly the whole provincial trade in manufactured
+goods is in their hands. Numerous traders of that nation have shops
+opened throughout the islands, their business being carried on by
+one of their own countrymen, generally the principal person of the
+concern, who remains resident at Manilla, while his various agents
+in the country keep him advised of their wants, to meet which he
+makes large purchases from the merchants, and forwards the same to
+his country friends. Besides having many shops in the provinces,
+each of these head men is generally in the habit of having a number
+of shops in Manilla, sometimes upwards of a dozen being frequently all
+contiguous to one another, so that any one going into one of his shops
+and asking for something the price of which appears too dear, refuses
+it and goes to the next shop, which probably belongs to the same man,
+and is likely to buy it, as he is apt to think--because they all ask
+the same price--that it cannot be got cheaper elsewhere, so gives
+the amount demanded for it, although it is probably very much too dear.
+
+There is another advantage which the Chinese have found from the
+system they pursue,--that large purchasers of goods from the merchants
+who import them for sale are frequently able to buy them for less
+money than those smaller traders who are not in the habit of making
+purchases to the same amount from the importers,--as the credit of
+a small dealer is not sufficiently good to induce a merchant to sell
+them more than he imagines he is likely to be paid for.
+
+In these Chinese shops, the owner usually engages all the activity
+of his countrymen employed by him in them, by giving each of them a
+share in the profits of the concern, or, in fact, by making them all
+small partners in the business, of which he of course takes care to
+retain the lion's share, so that while doing good for him by managing
+it well, they are also benefiting themselves. To such an extent is
+this principle carried, that it is usual to give even their coolies
+a share in the profits of the business in lieu of fixed wages, and
+the plan appears to suit their temper well; for although they are
+in general most complete eye-servants when working for a fixed wage,
+they are found to be most industrious and useful ones when interested
+even for the smallest share.
+
+The amount of business done by some of these Chinamen with the
+principal importers of manufactured goods, who are the British
+merchants, is very considerable, some of them frequently making monthly
+purchases to the extent of ten or fifteen thousand dollars from one
+person, nearly all of the goods being sold to them on credits of
+three, four, or six months after the date of purchase and delivery
+of the merchandise. Occasionally, however, some of them break down,
+and those importers who have been trusting them for large amounts,
+of course burn their fingers; Chinamen, as a general rule, being
+honest and trustworthy only so long as it appears to be their own
+interest to remain so. Most of them at Manilla are people who have
+made everything for themselves, from nothing except their hands to
+begin with, as no rich Chinamen, such as are met with in their native
+country, and occasionally in Java and Singapore, are found at Manilla;
+for nearly all those who come there have originally arrived as coolies,
+earning their bread by manual labour, but very few of them indeed
+having inherited anything from their fathers, except the arts of
+reading and writing, which nearly the whole of them, however poor,
+understand and are able to perform. Whenever they make money, they
+invariably return to China, the Government holding out no inducements
+for them to remain in the Philippines, as they do elsewhere in the
+Archipelago, where greater freedom and protection are allowed them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+The streets of Manilla have at all times a dead and dull appearance,
+with the exception of the two already mentioned as being in the
+business part of the town. The basement-floor of the houses being
+generally uninhabited, there are no windows opened in their walls,
+which present a mass of whitewashed stone and lime, without an object
+to divert the eye, except here and there, where small shops have
+been opened in them, these being generally for selling rice, fruit,
+oil, &c., and entirely deficient in the glare or glittering colours
+of gay merchandise, nearly all of which is confined to the shops of
+the Escolta, Rosario, and Santo Christo.
+
+The houses here, as elsewhere in hot climates, are arranged with great
+regard to ventilation and coolness, and are mostly large edifices;
+but are seldom well laid out, and are deficient in many respects. The
+entire white population, which amounts to upwards of 5,000, resides
+either in the city, by which is meant that portion of it within the
+walls, or in the principal part of the town outside the walls, and
+on the other side of the river from the city within the walls; and
+in this district is comprehended the great bulk of the population,
+which amounts to upwards of 200,000 souls.
+
+Those resident within the walls are principally government servants,
+&c., induced, by the proximity of the public offices, regimental
+cantonments, &c., as well as a lower house-rent, to brave the greater
+heat usually felt there, from the confined space within the walls,
+and the narrow streets, not permitting so free a circulation of air
+as is enjoyed in the houses _extra muros_.
+
+The largest description of houses, being the residences of Europeans,
+are spacious, and in many cases built on one plan, most of them
+being quadrangles inclosing a court-yard within their squares. Here
+the stables, &c., are usually situated; and, as may be supposed,
+the smell and view of them, should they happen to be in the least
+negligently kept, as they frequently are, afford but very little
+gratification to persons whose windows happen to be near.
+
+The upper part of the house, or second story, as we would say in
+Scotland, is in general the only portion of the house inhabited by
+its residents. The rooms below, being considered unhealthy, are in
+general converted into warehouses or shops, if they can be let as such
+from happening to be conveniently situated, or serve as coach-houses,
+lumber-rooms, &c. &c. The masonry of the lower walls is usually very
+substantial and strong, being calculated to resist the shocks of
+earthquakes, which occasionally happen. Those of the upper stories,
+which rise from them, and form the habitable part of the house above,
+are much slighter than the lower ones, and the joists and wooden-work
+about the roof are adapted for security against such accidents,
+by their being fastened with bolts on either side of the masonry,
+thus enabling it to give a little play to the motion of the shock,
+without being displaced by it, and coming down, as thick and heavy
+walls would most certainly do.
+
+However, on the occurrence of an earthquake, it is usual to run down
+stairs, and have the protection of the thick lower walls against
+any accident, such as that of the roof giving way. As the house I
+lived in while there may be taken as a specimen of many others, I
+shall describe it. After entering the gateway, the door of which is
+always very stout and heavy, and under the constant protection of a
+porter, for security's sake, you reach a flight of steps leading to
+the habitable part of the house, and enter a gallery running from
+the top of the staircase, and a suite of rooms facing the street,
+to the gala or drawing-room at the other end of the house, and a
+suite of rooms facing the river. The entire length of the gallery
+is about a hundred feet, by twenty broad, and it looks into the open
+court-yard forming the centre of the building, on one side. There are
+several large and spacious bedrooms on the other side, the windows of
+which are lighted from a narrow street running to the river. Facing
+the gallery, and on the other side of the house, across the central
+court-yard, that entire side of the building is appropriated by the
+servants for cooking and sleeping-places.
+
+The beams supporting the upper or habitable floor extend four or
+five feet beyond the outer wall, towards the street, forming a sort
+of verandah, or corridor, as it is called in Spanish as well as in
+English, round the entire building, affording a considerable protection
+against the sun's rays. The outer side of this corridor is composed
+of coarse and dark-coloured mother-of-pearl shell of little value,
+set in a wooden framework of small squares, forming windows which move
+on slides. Although the light admitted through this sort of window is
+much inferior to what glass would give, it has the advantage of being
+strong, and is not very liable to be damaged by the severe weather
+to which it is occasionally exposed during some months of the year.
+
+There are few buildings distinguishable for architectural beauty,
+and those few are for the most part churches. The governor's house,
+or the palace, is a large and spacious building within the walls,
+and forms one side of the Playa, the other three being formed by
+the cathedral, the Cabildo, and some private houses, whose irregular
+height detracts considerably from the appearance of the square. In the
+centre of the square stands a statue of I forget what King of Spain,
+well executed in bronze.
+
+It is usual for a military band to perform before the palace on
+Sunday and feast-day evenings, and on these occasions many carriages
+go there from the drive, about eight o'clock, to enjoy the music,
+and give people a good opportunity for either gossip or love-making,
+as their tastes or the moonlight may incline them.
+
+The native Indians appear to have a good ear for music, and execute
+many of the finest operas with spirit and taste; and the amateur
+musicians in particular, who train the casino band, have brought the
+native performers to a very high degree of perfection in most of the
+pieces performed by them. A good deal more attention, however, appears
+to be paid to training these military bands, than in perfecting the
+troops themselves in their evolutions.
+
+Religious processions are as frequently passing through the streets,
+as they are in all the Roman Catholic countries of Europe, but
+the features of all are very nearly identical, and so need not be
+particularly described.
+
+When one of these processions takes place during the day, an awning
+is spread along the streets it will pass through, to protect the
+bareheaded promenaders from the sun, the canvass being attached to
+the house roofs along the streets; making them incredibly hot to pass
+along, so long as it remains there.
+
+A good deal of display in silver and gold ornaments may be seen in
+some of the churches, the collections of many successive years, as
+every incumbent shows his piety and zeal by adding something to them
+during the time he holds the cure.
+
+The jewels in some of the dresses of the figures, especially those of
+the Virgin, are valued at, or amount to, a considerable sum of money,
+and I have heard twenty thousand dollars mentioned as the value of
+those belonging to one church in Manilla.
+
+The houses of the Indian and Mestizo population are for the most
+part in the outskirts of the business part of the town, those of the
+richer sort being built of stone, and those of the poorest class being
+composed of _nipa_, or attap. Among houses of this sort, when a fire
+takes place, great and rapid destruction is inevitable, and the only
+way of saving any portion of them from its fury is by throwing down
+all those in the direction of its advance.
+
+Nearly every season, however, some fires happen among them, and
+hundreds of families are frequently burned out before its progress can
+be arrested. This, however, is not anything like so calamitous an event
+for them as such an occurrence would be to the poor of Europe, for as
+the chief cost of a _nipa_ house consists in the labour of erection,
+after such a misfortune, they are soon replaced by their own personal
+labour--for whatever their usual trade or occupation may be, nearly
+all of the Indians are quite capable of constructing these houses for
+themselves, and often manage to complete them roughly in a few days. No
+nails need be used in their construction, everything necessary being
+produced in the islands, and easily attainable. Houses so constructed
+are very suitable for the climate, affording all the shelter requisite;
+and indeed the people appear to be much better lodged than many of
+the poor in England, where the cold and damp of the climate demand
+a substantial house, which too often they do not possess.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+The government of all the Philippine group, including the Mariana
+Islands, is intrusted to the charge of a Captain-General, who in
+virtue of his office is commander-in-chief of the forces, president
+of the Hacienda, admiral of marine, postmaster-general &c., &c. His
+power and authority, in short, extend to all those departments,
+over which his control, should he choose to exert it, is very absolute.
+
+The civil department of Her Most Catholic Majesty's service, so far
+as finance, &c., are concerned, is left to the administration of an
+officer who takes the title of Super-Intendente of the Hacienda; and
+who, putting the Archbishop aside, is regarded as the second official
+person at Manilla, or as ranking next to the Governor, the revenue,
+&c., being the branch he has principal charge of; but his acts are
+always subject to the control of the Captain-General.
+
+A military officer under the title of segundo Cabo, is under the
+Governor as acting commander-in-chief of the forces, and, in the event
+of the governor's absence from Manilla, is the person who fills his
+situation and succeeds him in his power. A post-captain of the navy
+is usually the rank of the person intrusted with the direction and
+management of the sea force, but he always has, I believe, the local
+or brevet rank of an admiral.
+
+The internal administration of the country is carried on by officials
+subordinate to those above-mentioned, the whole of the islands being
+parcelled out or divided into several provinces, in each of which
+there is an Alcalde, or Lieutenant-Governor, receiving his orders
+from, and quite dependent on the Captain-General, to whose favour he
+generally owes his appointment.
+
+These officers are invested with the chief civil and military
+authority in their own provinces; but although they have always a
+small guard of soldiers, the good order and quiet generally prevalent
+everywhere throughout the country render their military duties very
+unimportant, and their principal care is now required in the collection
+of revenue and the administration of justice within their several
+jurisdictions. These are not very arduous duties, owing principally
+to the efficient assistance derived from the authorities under them.
+
+Every province is divided into districts or parishes, in which there is
+some village or town, and in each of these places there is an official
+whom I shall call the Major, or _Capitan Gobernadorcillo_, and also
+some _Tenientes_ or Aldermen, as well as police alguacils. All
+of these have to report to the alcalde of the province any thing
+of importance occuring within their districts, and are commanded
+severally to assist and promote the views of the cura, or priest,
+by every means in their power. Most of the people who fill these
+situations are Indians or Mestizos, rather better off in worldly
+goods than the run of their countrymen.
+
+These gobernadorcillos, or little governors, possess considerable
+authority over the natives, for, besides having the chief municipal
+authority in their own districts, they are allowed to decide judicially
+in civil cases, when the amount in dispute does not exceed the
+value of forty-four dollars, or about ten pounds sterling, and in
+criminal cases undertake the prosecution, collecting the evidence
+and ascertaining the charges against any delinquent within their
+district, all of which is remitted by them to the provincial-governor
+and judge for his decision. Their election takes place annually,
+on the commencement of the new year, all over the country, and their
+power is exactly defined in a printed commission which they all hold
+from the Governor of the Philippines.
+
+The half-breeds, or people of mixed Chinese and Indian blood, known by
+the name of Sangleys, are usually permitted, in districts where their
+number is considerable, to elect a Major from among their own class,
+whose power over them is exactly similar to that of the captain of
+the village where they reside over the aboriginal Indians: they do
+not interfere with each other, and are quite independent of any one
+save the alcalde of the province. When there are two gobernadorcillos
+in the same village, they each look after their own class, whether
+Mestizos or natives.
+
+In addition to these local officials there is another curious body of
+men, called _Cabezas de barangay_; each of whom has under his charge
+about fifty families, whose tribute to government he has to collect,
+and for the amount of which he is held accountable.
+
+The persons who fill this office are usually resident in the immediate
+neighbourhood or in the same street with those from whom they have to
+collect the tribute, and have some slight authority over those who pay
+it to them, such as deciding petty quarrels and disputes among them,
+&c. The institution of this body is uncertain, and is said to have
+been originated by the aboriginal Indians themselves, and to have
+been found in full operation at the time of the earliest Spanish
+intercourse with them. The probability is, however, that at that
+period it was of a military nature, and their duties then were more
+to officer the armies of the native kings than for any of the uses
+it has been subsequently wisely put to by the white man. The office
+is hereditary in their families; but in the event of the person who
+exercises it changing his residence, or from other causes becoming
+unfit to discharge its duties, a successor is elected in his place.
+
+They are recompensed for their trouble in collecting taxes, &c.,
+by being themselves exempted from paying tribute to the state,
+and have several privileges by virtue of their office. As a body,
+they are always considered the principal people of their village,
+and only from among them, and by their votes alone, is the mayor or
+gobernadorcillo of the _pueblo_ chosen; that is to say, they choose
+a list of three Indians from among their own number for that office,
+each of whom should by law be able to speak, read, and write Spanish;
+and this list being forwarded to the alcalde, he indicates which
+of them is to be chosen, by scratching his name and filling up his
+commission. The election of these candidates ought to be made with
+closed doors, and must be authorized by the presence of an escribano,
+or attorney, to note the proceedings. The parish priest is allowed
+to attend if he choose, in order that he may influence the election
+of fit persons for the office by speaking in their favour, but he
+has not any vote in the matter.
+
+In the capital, owing to the number of Chinamen there, and in the
+neighbourhood, they are obliged to choose a capitan from among
+themselves, in order that he may collect their tribute and arrange
+their petty disputes with each other, which some one conversant with
+their customs and language is only fit to do.
+
+There are some fees now attached to this office, but the duties are so
+troublesome that the industrious Celestials very frequently find them
+incompatible with the management of their own trade or business, and
+for the most part are not at all ambitious of the honour of filling
+the situation, even although some fees accompany it.
+
+At the same time that the capitan is elected, his lieutenant and a
+head constable are also chosen by their countrymen.
+
+All Chinese arriving at Manilla are registered in a book kept for
+the purpose, for, as they pay tribute according to their occupation,
+the amount of it, and their numbers, are at once ascertained from
+that. Should they leave the country, their passports have to be
+countersigned by their capitan, who is to some extent responsible
+for them while residing in it.
+
+The emoluments of government offices are not very high; much too low,
+in fact, to recompense the class of men who are required to discharge
+them, and the consequence is, (as usual in such cases), that extortion
+and improper means are resorted to in order to increase their amount,
+all of which fall much heavier on the people than regularly collected
+taxes, sufficient to support their proper or adequate pay, would
+amount to.
+
+In the province of Cagayan, for instance, the alcalde's nominal pay
+is 600 dollars a-year, which sum is of course totally insufficient to
+recompense any educated man for undertaking and supporting the dignity
+of governor of a considerable province. But as the best tobacco is
+grown there, one of his duties is to collect and forward it to Manilla,
+for which he is allowed a commission, and this, with other privileges,
+is found to yield him in ordinary years about 20,000 dollars a-year,
+being in reality one of the most lucrative situations at the disposal
+of the Government.
+
+I believe that most people will concur with me in the opinion that the
+system of reducing the fixed official pay below a remuneration that
+will induce men of standing and education to undertake the duties
+which their situation requires them to exercise, and to trust to
+exaction supplying its place, is extremely impolitic, and much more
+expensive to the country than a more liberal scale of pay would prove.
+
+The alcaldes are allowed to trade on their own account, and for this
+their position affords them many facilities; but for the permission
+to do so, they are required to pay a considerable annual fee to
+Government, ranging from about one hundred to three thousand dollars.
+
+The wisdom of granting them this permission is very doubtful, as it
+not unfrequently happens that the privilege is abused by rapacious
+men, eager to make the most of their time and collect a fortune,
+and occasionally it gives rise to much oppression.
+
+The poor Indian cultivators of the soil, accustomed all their lives
+to look upon the alcalde of their native province as the greatest
+and most powerful man they know of, have very little redress for
+their grievance, should that person, in the pursuit of money-making
+and trade buy up all their crop of sugar, rice, or other produce,
+whatever it may be, and in a falling market refuse to receive the
+articles contracted for, or to complete the bargain agreed upon with
+them. On the contrary, however, should anything he may have contracted
+to buy be rising in value at Manilla, the poor Indian, who has sold it
+too cheap to him, has no chance of getting clear of the bad bargain he
+may have made with the alcalde, should it appear to that individual
+worth his while to keep him to it, as every means are at his command
+or beck, aided by all the force of the executive, and the terrors of
+a law administered by himself, to compel him to ratify his contract.
+
+In these circumstances the alcalde never makes a bad bargain, or loses
+money on any of his transactions, and there is little wonder that
+rapid fortunes are made by men holding these situations, when such
+scandalous means are constantly resorted to by them, so that generally,
+after a very few years of office, these people are upon very easy terms
+with the world, although nominally only receiving a wretchedly low pay.
+
+Notwithstanding these abuses, however, the government of the people
+is on the whole much more effective, and consequently better, than
+it is in many places of British India. No such thing was ever known
+as disaffection becoming so generally diffused among them as to lead
+to a rebellion of the people, or an attempt to shake off the leeches
+who suck them so deeply; and this can only be attributed to the sway
+the priesthood have over the minds of the Indians, as without their
+influence and aid, beyond a doubt, such an attempt would be made;
+and if it should ever come about, it would be no very difficult
+affair for the natives, if properly led, to overthrow the sway of the
+Spaniards. Although there is very little religion among the Indians,
+there is abundance of superstitious feeling, and fear of the padre's
+displeasure; indeed, the church has long proved to be, upon the whole,
+by much the most cheap and efficacious instrument of good government
+and order that could be employed anywhere, so long as its influence
+has been properly directed. In the Philippines there appears to be
+little doubt but that it is one of the most beneficial that could
+be exerted as a medium for the preservation of good order among the
+people, who are admonished and taught to be contented, while it is
+not forgetful of their interests, as they very generally learn reading
+by its aid--so much of it, at least, as to enable them to read their
+prayer-books, or other religious manuals.
+
+There are very few Indians who are unable to read, and I have
+always observed that the Manilla men serving on board of ships,
+and composing their crews, have been much oftener able to subscribe
+their names to the ship's articles than the British seamen on board
+the same vessels could do, or even on board of Scottish ships, whose
+crews are sometimes superior men, so far as education is concerned,
+to those born in other parts of Great Britain. This fact startled
+me at first; but it has been frequently remarked upon by people very
+strongly prejudiced in favour of white men, and who despise the black
+skins of Manilla men, regarding them as inferior beings to themselves,
+as strongly as many of our countrymen often do.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+From old prejudices, and other causes, the Spanish people have not
+as yet learned how to work the more liberal form of government now
+enjoyed by their country. But there is no doubt that the experience
+necessary to do so is daily being acquired by them at home, and when
+it becomes prevalent, its effects may be expected to be shown by the
+class of men selected to administer the government of their colonies,
+the white population of which are of considerably more advanced
+intelligence than their countrymen in Spain.
+
+In most colonies the people appear to possess a superior degree of
+vigour or freshness of mind to those born in Europe, or in old and
+thickly inhabited countries. This may result in a great degree from
+their comparative freedom from conventional prejudices, the results
+of a long and insensible growth in families, which trammel nearly
+every mind in densely peopled countries, and more especially in places
+where commerce is languidly carried on. Perhaps also in some measure
+it may be owing to the greater facility the poorer classes have in
+all colonies of earning a livelihood, which, by freeing their minds
+from anxiety on that score, leaves some room for their speculations
+on other matters.
+
+In the administration of government, they are even now guided
+essentially by the most imperative rules; but I hope that, ere long, in
+many cases, the very arbitrary proceedings of their chief authorities
+abroad, may become subject to approval by a council such as exists
+in our Indian possessions, and in Java among the Dutch, as there can
+be little doubt but that it would prove advantageous to the country
+did such a body exist.
+
+As an example of the procedures of the Manilla government, I may
+mention the following facts, which occurred to an acquaintance of my
+own, and on which every dependence may be placed.
+
+Don Francisco P. de O---- having been presented with the governorship
+of one of the best or most lucrative provinces in the Philippines,
+set out for his residency and commenced his duties, which he continued
+to fulfil satisfactorily to himself and the people for upwards of
+a year--about fifteen months, I believe. His commission as Governor
+embraced four years from the date of his appointment; however, at the
+end of the first year in his office, a nephew of the then Governor
+happened to arrive at Manilla, and it became an object of interest
+to his uncle to get him into some good place before the term of his
+appointment as Governor expired. Casting his eyes around on everything
+that might serve his turn, he happened to recollect Don Francisco's
+alcalde-ship, and forthwith despatched an order to my unfortunate
+friend to return to Manilla, there to answer some complaints which,
+he alleged in the order of recall, had been made against his
+administration of the province, and at the same time told him to
+deliver over all authority to the person he sent for the purpose,
+that individual being neither more nor less than his own nephew.
+
+Don Francisco, ignorant of committing any crime or fault, or of
+anything that could justify this very unceremonious recall, hastened to
+Manilla, and presenting himself at the palace, demanded what charges
+had been lodged against him, and by whom they had been made. But
+he could learn nothing of them, and was commanded by the Governor
+to wait in Manilla till he should be formally summoned to answer
+them. It is now, however, upwards of ten years since this happened,
+and from that day to this he has never been summoned, nor has he been
+even able to find out what the charges were on which he was recalled
+from his lucrative appointment, although repeated applications were
+made to the Governor who recalled him for a trial. All the subsequent
+Governors have professed their inability to give him the information,
+which, had such charges actually been framed, must have been found in
+the archives, so that no doubt can now exist but that this villanous
+trick was trumped up by the Governor to serve his own family by the
+bestowal of Don Francisco's place. And as my friend has since filled
+other situations, (and, in fact, is an Alcalde,) having been selected
+by different Governors for office, the accusation does not in the
+least affect his character.
+
+But, in truth, many of the natives of Spain who are even now selected
+to fill the highest offices, are about as despotic and as unscrupulous
+as any Asiatics in their notions of government and in their exercise
+of power, and as bad even as the Turks themselves are in their
+administration of justice and equity; while the Spanish government,
+and the political knowledge of the people, are infinitely behind the
+Turkish government in everything concerning their commercial policy.
+
+During the time of electing members for the Cortes, or parliament
+in Spain, of course the existing government were anxious to secure
+the tide of the general election running in their favour--but what
+means do you, my courteous reader, imagine they took to secure this
+object? Why, neither more nor less than to order the police to seize
+all persons suspected of being likely to oppose their party actively
+at the ensuing elections throughout the country. Thousands of people
+were actually seized and hurried off to jail, to be confined there
+till the danger was past; and many of them, on the jails becoming too
+full to contain them all, were hurried to a seaport town and put on
+board ships sailing to Manilla, or, by hundreds at a time, sent out
+on a voyage of four months' duration, to reconsider their political
+opinions, and then to find their road home as they best might.
+
+These people were captured in all situations of time and place, and
+were not allowed to communicate with their friends while in prison
+in Spain, which must have given rise to at least as much distress
+and privation among as many persons as the numbers of those seized,
+for very many of them were people with families entirely dependent
+upon them for support.
+
+About a thousand of these _deportados_ reached Manilla in 1848-9, and
+being entirely destitute of all resources or means of subsistence, they
+had to be taken care of by the Colonial Government, who allowed them
+some rice and water every day, and had, finally, to charter vessels
+to re-ship them for the Peninsula. One of them was an Irishman, who
+having entered the Spanish service when a lad, had reached the rank
+of Colonel; his father was a general officer and K.C.B. of our own
+army, who, I believe, had married a Spanish lady, and after his death,
+his family had become resident in Spain.
+
+The bad accommodation of a crowded ship, together with the want
+of change of clothes, which he was not allowed to procure from
+his friends, and the general filthiness of the people with whom he
+was obliged to be cooped up during the long voyage, acted on him so
+severely that it caused his death a very short time after his arrival
+at Manilla. Thus the poor fellow fell a sacrifice to this abominable
+stretch of arbitrary power, and dying destitute, was buried there,
+after having been maintained decently in a hotel during the remainder
+of his existence, at the expense of his countrymen then at Manilla.
+
+When acts so atrocious as these can be done with impunity in any
+European country by a powerful minister of the crown, we may form some
+idea of its advance in the arts of self-government and the security
+of its people.
+
+This young man was very far from being the only person who fell a
+victim to these acts, as many died from causes similar to those which
+deprived him of life; and his case is only mentioned to give some
+idea of the lengths men will proceed to when no checks are placed
+on the Government machine, to prevent its bursting, and damaging
+thousands. These abuses are so shameful, that they are scarcely
+credible in Britain; but they are easily capable of corroboration
+by inquiry and a little knowledge of Spain, where very frequently
+caprice is the only law in existence, or at least is the only one acted
+upon. I might multiply instances, but this is doubtless sufficient.
+
+The orders of the Court at Madrid are not always laws in their
+colonies, for every now and then the most imperative commands come
+out from Spain which are refused obedience to at Manilla, where it
+is openly asserted that the home government gives orders in favour
+of importunate suitors, without the least expectation that they will
+be acted upon by those to whom they are addressed; granting them,
+in fact, merely to get rid of troublesome people who might annoy them
+at home if their demands were refused.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+People are generally seen to most advantage in their own houses;
+and nowhere, I think, does any one appear to play the host better
+than an average specimen of a Spanish gentleman under his own roof.
+
+Notwithstanding a great deal of ceremony and the customary exaggerated
+polite expressions used to every stranger, there is so much innate
+hospitality in the national character that it is not to be mistaken,
+and is perhaps one of their best and greatest virtues as individuals.
+
+The modes of expression usual on occasions such as that of a first
+visit to a house appear rather strange to any one born under a colder
+sun than that of old Castile, and the first time that one is told,
+on taking leave of his host at a place he has been visiting for the
+first time, that the house, and every thing and person in it, are
+his, or at his disposal, he is apt to be puzzled by the exaggeration
+of the speech which contains such an unlimited offer, should he
+be ignorant that it is quite a usual expression. Of course it means
+nothing more than were any one to say or subscribe himself in English,
+"I am your obedient servant," which he may be very far from feeling,
+and may be constantly in the habit of using to his inferiors, and
+even to people paid or employed by himself.
+
+Some years ago an eccentric man, when this expression was used to him,
+was known occasionally to interpret the words in their literal sense,
+and in more than one instance he had the credit of having adroitly made
+his court to a lady in that manner. He would watch for an opportunity,
+or give a turn to the conversation, which would afford him a chance
+of expressing admiration of some ornament she wore at the time, when
+the fair owner would, as a matter of course, say that it was at his
+disposal. Much to her surprise, the offer would be accepted, and the
+swain would walk off with the ornament he had praised. However, next
+day he always returned it in person; and to soothe her irritation,
+which must have been excited by such conduct, he took the opportunity
+of presenting her with some other ornament, or complimentary gift of
+some description. This, if done as an atonement and peace-offering,
+would probably be accepted, and the way was paved for an entrance into
+her good graces, which he might have been quite unable to obtain by
+any more direct means.
+
+Frankness or openness of manner is considered by the Spaniards to be
+the most desirable point of good breeding; and when any one possesses
+that quality, he is pretty sure to be well received by them.
+
+It is the custom at Manilla for any respectably-dressed European
+passing by a house where music and dancing are going on, to be
+permitted to join the party, although he may be a perfect stranger
+to every one there; and should any one do so, after having made his
+bow to the master of the house, and said some words, of course about
+the liberty he was taking, and his fondness for music and dancing,
+&c., he is always welcomed by him, and is at perfect liberty to ask
+any lady present to dance; nor is she likely to refuse him, as her
+doing so would scarcely be considered well bred.
+
+This degree of freedom is not, however, at all times acted on in
+the houses of the natives of Spain, or of any European foreigners,
+as any one going so unceremoniously into these might not meet with
+so cordial a reception as he would do from the rich Mestizos, who,
+when they give such _fetes_ on feast days, are in general well pleased
+to receive Europeans, although perfect strangers, in their houses.
+
+These very free and unceremonious manners, among people who have
+such a reputation for the love of ceremony in all forms, are strange
+enough, for the same custom prevails in Spain, although to a more
+limited extent.
+
+Some years ago a British merchant, resident at Manilla, was very
+much blamed by his countrymen for not conforming to the customs of
+the country in this respect. He broke through them in this manner;--
+
+After the China war, a part of the expedition visited Manilla,
+including some of the principal officers both of the army and navy,
+who had just been so gallantly distinguishing themselves in that
+country. On their arrival at Manilla, the houses of their countrymen
+to whom they went provided with introductions were in a great measure
+thrown open to them; and of course, as their hospitable entertainers
+wished to show them something of the people and the place, a good
+deal of gaiety was got up to amuse them. Among others the gentleman
+in question gave a ball to General Lord Saltoun and the Admiral,
+including, of course, most of the other officers of the expedition. The
+party was a large one, and included nearly all the British residents
+there, together with his Spanish acquaintances.
+
+Hearing the sounds of music and dancing in the street, a stranger
+entered the house and walked up stairs; and unperceived, I believe,
+by the landlord, entered the ball-room, where he engaged a Spanish
+lady to dance,--the girl whom he asked chancing to be the daughter of
+a military officer of rank, and a particular friend of the giver of
+the party. On leading her up to her place, the stranger was remarked,
+and recognised by some one present, who asked his host if he knew
+who the person was; but he, on looking at him, merely said that he
+did not, and was passing on without more notice or thought about
+him. Just at the moment, some one wishing to quiz him, said to the
+host, who was a man of hasty temper and feelings,--"So, D----, you
+have got my tailor to meet your guests," pointing, at the same time,
+towards the stranger whom he had just been observing.
+
+Of course, Mr. D---- was angry at the liberty taken by such a person
+in joining his party, and probably afraid of the laugh it would give
+rise to; for he walked up to the tailor, and asked him in a most angry
+manner by whose invitation he came there, and then, without waiting
+for any reply, catching his coat-collar, walked with him to the top of
+the stairs, and kicked him down. The man complained to the governor,
+and the consequence was that Mr. D---- was fined a considerable amount,
+and for some time banished to a place at a short distance from Manilla,
+which he was forbidden to enter. As he was a merchant, and of course
+had his business to attend to, this was a most severe punishment,
+which, by the influence of the Consul, however, was subsequently
+rescinded, and he was allowed to return to town.
+
+In giving entertainments in honour of their saints, great sums of
+money are frequently spent by the richer class of Mestizos and Indians,
+every one appearing to vie with his neighbour, as to who shall be most
+splendid in his saint's honour; and even among nearly the whole of
+the poor people there is always some little extravagance gone into on
+these occasions: some time previous to the feast taking place, part of
+their earnings are carefully set apart for the feast-night's enjoyment.
+
+At many of their _fiestas_, besides the devotional exercises, there is
+a great deal of amusement going on, the Mestiza girls being frequently
+good-looking, and nearly all of them addicted to dancing; many of
+them are passionately fond of waltzes, and dance them remarkably
+well--better, I think, than any women I have elsewhere seen in a
+private room.
+
+Their dress, which is well adapted to the climate, is, when worn by
+a good-looking girl, particularly neat.
+
+It consists of a little shirt, generally made of pina cloth, with wide
+short sleeves: it is worn loose, and, quite unbound to the figure in
+any way, reaches to the waist, round which the _saya_ or petticoat
+is girt, it being generally made of silk, checked or striped, of gay
+colours, of _huse_ cloth, or of cotton cloth. Within doors, these
+compose their dress, no stockings being worn, but their well-formed
+feet, inserted in slight slippers without heels, and embroidered with
+gold and silver lace, lose nothing in beauty from the want of them.
+
+Out of doors, another piece of dress called the _sapiz_, composed of
+dark blue silk or cotton cloth, slightly striped with narrow white
+stripes, is usually worn over the saya.
+
+No bonnets or hats of any sort are worn by them, their long and
+beautiful hair being considered a sufficient protection to the head,
+which they arrange in something like the European fashion, it being
+fastened by a comb, or some gold ornament in a knot at the back of
+the head.
+
+On going out of doors, a handkerchief is often thrown over the head,
+should the sun be strong, or an umbrella or parasol is carried as a
+protection against it.
+
+A similar dress, made of coarser and cheaper materials, is the usual
+costume of all the native women.
+
+The men, both native and Mestizo, wear trousers fastened round the
+waist by a cord or tape, the fabric being sometimes silk of country
+manufacture, for their gala dresses, or of cotton cloth striped and
+coloured, for every-day use.
+
+The shirt, which is worn outside the trousers, that is to say, the
+tails hanging loose above the trousers, and reaching to just below the
+hips, is generally made of pina cloth, or, among the poorest people,
+of blue or white cotton cloth. When of pina cloth, the pattern is
+generally of blue or other coloured stripes with flowers, &c. worked
+on them, and it is a very handsome and gay piece of dress. When worn
+outside the trousers, it is much cooler than when stuffed into them
+in the European manner. A hat and slippers, or sandals of native
+manufacture, complete their dress, and the only difference of costume
+between the rich and poor consists in the greater or less value of
+the materials which compose it. No coat or jacket is worn, but many
+of the men, and nearly all the women, wear a rosary of beads or gold
+round their necks; and frequently a gold cross, suspended by a chain
+of the same metal, rests between the bosoms of the fair. Many of them
+also wear charms, which having been blessed by the priest, are supposed
+to be faithful guardians, and to preserve the wearer from all evil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+The honours paid to the saints by the celebration of their feast-days
+are nearly altogether practised by the Mestizo and Indian population,
+the richer or upper classes of Spaniards being for the most part too
+careless on such occasions, except when their turn comes to dance at
+the _fetes_, or to eat the supper set out by their Mestizo neighbours
+on these anniversaries; and certainly, if their piety be judged by
+the alacrity usually displayed on such occasions, they will stand
+very forward in the race out of purgatory. For, strange to say, the
+modern Spaniards--at least those who come to the Philippines--are
+as little superstitious or priest-ridden as the people of any
+nation in Europe. Probably this is a symptom of their return to a
+more moderate degree of faith than they used to evince prior to the
+French Revolution, which has altered the tone of opinion and manners
+throughout the world. And after the severity and rigid observance of
+all the church high-days and holydays formerly prevalent among them,
+the tide of opinion appears to have run into the opposite extreme.
+
+I have frequently been astonished at discovering the extent to which
+infidel notions are current among my Spanish acquaintances; their
+prevailing opinions on the subject being, that the priests and some
+of the tenets of the Catholic church are behind the age, and as such,
+are to some extent unworthy of the serious attention of well-informed
+people of the present day, and that those things are only suitable for
+women and children. _Es cosa de mugeres_, is the usual expression,
+should the subject be mentioned; and as regards the priests, the
+laity very generally fancy that they must be watched carefully, as
+they are certain to assume importance should an opportunity offer for
+thrusting their noses into any affair they can, military or civil--it
+matters not which to these ambitious men.
+
+Among the native population, however, high church opinions, or a
+notion that virtue is inherent in the walls of the church and the
+priestly office, is very common, so that whatever the _padre_ says
+is looked upon as indisputable by them. But I cannot say that any
+rational systems of religion, or feelings not associated so much with
+the _padre's_ office and dress, and with the stone and lime of the
+church, as with the more pure and immaterial subjects of religious
+belief, exist among them, or influence their conduct. Frequently one
+sees instances of this, which place their feelings in the grossest
+and worst light. For example, the first act of a courtesan in the
+morning is generally to repair to the church, and after, as a matter
+of course, having said her prayers, to pass the time in any species
+of debauchery or immorality her lovers may wish. I state this fact,
+to give some idea of the extent of superstition and of priestly
+influence over their conduct, which shows how powerfully mere habits
+and custom may influence our manners without improving our minds,
+when we are brought up in a formal routine of habits of respect for we
+don't know well what; for they have no further acquaintance with the
+principles of religious belief than the habit of crossing themselves
+before figures of the Virgin and the crucifixion.
+
+For even these women, infamous though they be, seldom omit the
+observance of such practices, and are in general as punctual in
+repeating diurnally the formal prayer which has been taught them in
+childhood, as any Christian can be, whenever the hour of _oracion_
+is come, which is notified to all the population by the tolling of
+the church bells.
+
+However, Manilla appears not to be quite singular as to these matters;
+for it has been frequently stated by visitors to the states of the
+Church, that nine months after the great religious festival of the
+Carnival there, a much greater number of illegitimate children are
+born than during other seasons of the year.
+
+This statement, which I have seen mentioned as a statistical fact,
+is probably attributable to the idleness of the people, ignorant and
+uninstructed as to any higher devotional feelings than those which
+custom teaches; although, doubtless, religious admonition, having
+a tendency to unloose the mind, and withdraw it from its customary
+objects of interest, may induce these softer emotions, and among
+people in whom the animal passions preponderate over those of the
+mind, or of a spiritual nature, may frequently lead to conduct of
+this loose description.
+
+Perhaps, also, the sense of satisfaction after having gone through the
+ceremony of attending church, and of having performed the humble duty
+which all are taught to practise there, disposes the people to this
+license, for they carry away no new idea with them from the sacred
+house. The formal exercise there being gone through by rote, without
+exciting new feelings, or touching new chords in their hearts, may
+cause them to break away from strictness, and give a rein to their
+passions after the exercise of their religious duties.
+
+The Indians are people who, being bred up with a regard to observances
+which retain no hold over their minds--at least, over the reason
+which God has endowed them with--in order to judge for themselves,
+think religious observances derive their importance only from custom;
+but having been trained up with little regard to the sterner and
+self-denying mental duties or instruction usually held up to our
+admiration in Britain and other Protestant countries, they can scarcely
+be expected to practise them. In addition to this, the heat of the
+climate probably disposes them this way; as in all countries where
+the _dolce far niente_ is most agreeable to them, or is generally
+practised by the inhabitants, those feelings are likely to prevail
+in a greater degree than where active habits are more congenial to
+the people and the temperature of the climate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+The habits of the Spanish residents at Manilla are exceedingly
+indolent. As persons in the government service form the great
+proportion of the white population, a sketch of the habits of one
+of them may not be uninteresting;--say those of an average officer
+of the Hacienda, for instance. He usually gets out of bed about six,
+or a little after, to enjoy the cool air of the morning, and sip his
+chocolate, with the aid of _broas_, without which he could scarcely
+manage to get through the day; he then dresses, and drives to his
+office, where he remains till twelve o'clock, which hour finishes
+his official duties for the day. While in his office the nature
+of his work is not very arduous, and does not appear to call into
+play any powers of the mind, as it appears to consist only in his
+remaining for about four hours in a cool and large room, generally
+seated at a table or desk, overlooking a number of native writers,
+occupied in making out and filling up forms which are required by
+the existing regulations for the government service. The Spaniard,
+however, has nothing to do with all that, only occasionally exerting
+himself so far as to sign his name, or merely to dash his rubrica,
+without taking the trouble to sign his name, to the papers presented
+to him by these native copyists; and should you enter his office,
+he generally appears to be just awaking from a nap, as he opens his
+eyes, and rouses himself to salute a visitor.
+
+At noon the public offices are closed, and he drives home to dine about
+one or two o'clock, after which he generally sleeps till about five,
+for nearly all of the Spanish residents take a long siesta. About
+that time of the day, however, he is awakened to dress and prepare
+for the _paseo_ on the Calyada, and for the _tertulia_ after it, at
+the house of some acquaintance; or if he should by any chance happen
+to be without acquaintance, to saunter through the Chinamen's shops,
+admiring walking-canes, cravats, or waistcoat-pieces; and while
+so engaged, he is pretty sure to meet some companion for a gossip,
+or other amusement. After this he sets off to sup at home, and to
+sleep till another day comes round, when the same routine must be
+gone through.
+
+It would be hard to conjecture a mode of passing or sauntering through
+life with less apparent object than many of them have. Books are scarce
+and expensive, and are in little demand by most of the residents,
+even if they were worth reading, and cheaper, and more procurable
+than they now are; the library--if the term may be applied to their
+collection--of such people, generally only comprising one or two plays,
+and perhaps a novel--sometimes also Don Quixote's adventures, which,
+with a volume of poetry, is about the average amount of learning and
+amusement on their book-shelves. But should the owner be a military
+man, he probably has, in addition to these, some Spanish standard
+book, equivalent to our "Dundas's Principles," or "Regulations for
+the Cavalry."
+
+Smoking, sleeping, and eating, are the labours of their days, and
+in all of these they are adepts. Their prevalent taste, however, as
+regards cookery, is not suitable to a British palate, as the favourite
+accompaniment of garlic is commonly used in such a quantity by their
+cooks, that they are very apt to spoil a dinner for a foreigner's
+eating, unless they are checked or cautioned with regard to the use
+of it.
+
+Their usual drink is wine of different kinds, which they take out of
+a glass or tumbler, as we would beer or water: the quantity consumed
+is moderate enough, about a pint being a usual allowance--and that
+is frequently mixed with about an equal quantity of water. Sherry,
+claret, priorato, pajarete, manzanilla, malaga, and muscatel, are the
+sorts most in request, all of them being of ordinary quality, to the
+taste of any one accustomed to drink good wine at home, from which the
+wines procurable here are as different as possible, and especially the
+sherry. But in that resides a mystery known best to the wine-merchants,
+who doctor up the wine consumed in Great Britain to suit the taste of
+those who buy it from them. Strange to say, even to this, a Spanish
+colony, there is not sent out a single pipe of wine, such as any one
+accustomed to drink the British _composition_ would call good sherry.
+
+Claret, or _vino tinto_, is very generally used in preference to
+tea or coffee at breakfast, but at that early time of the day it is
+mixed with a large proportion of water. This meal, however, is not a
+general one in the Philippines, as the custom of taking chocolate in
+the morning destroys all appetite for it, and the early dinner hour
+of the Spaniards in general, does not render it essential.
+
+The want of interesting occupation, and the heat of the sun, preventing
+out-of-door exercise during the day, has doubtless originated these
+indolent customs, which have given rise to many bad habits, and the
+low scale of morality prevailing among them.
+
+A large proportion of them being bachelors, are in the habit of
+selecting a mistress as a companion with whom they may forget the
+dullness, and shake off the apathy of their aimless existence; a very
+large proportion, in fact, nearly all of them, being in the habit of
+choosing such a household companion from among the Creole, Mestiza,
+or native girls, but generally from the last two races.
+
+The native girls have the reputation of proving more faithful to
+their lovers than the other two, as they look upon such a connection
+in the light of a marriage, and consider themselves guilty of no
+immorality during its continuance. When a native beauty forms such
+a connection with a white man, her relations do not sunder all the
+former ties existing between her and them, by casting her off, but
+on the contrary are, as frequently as not, highly pleased at it,
+viewing the affair in the light of a fortunate marriage for her.
+
+These feelings, however, are not universal, for some of the richer
+class of Indians would be highly displeased with a female relation
+forming such a connection.
+
+Among the Indians themselves this arrangement frequently takes place,
+as very many of the poorest people are unable to save money enough to
+pay their marriage fees, and in the event of a couple living together
+without having had the ceremony performed previously, they regard
+themselves, and are considered by their neighbours, as not the less
+man and wife. As an instance of the extent to which this prevails among
+them, I may mention a circumstance which struck me much at the time:--
+
+Being near the cathedral at Manilla one evening in April last, I
+entered an open door of the edifice and wandered into a room attached
+to it, where several people were in waiting, and among them several
+women with children to be baptized. I stopped to witness the ceremony,
+and had the curiosity to look into the register where their names were
+enrolled; in that book, two of them were described as illegitimate
+children, and the third was the only one born in matrimony.
+
+Although the custom does not prevail to anything like the extent
+of two-thirds of the population, still it is a very frequent one,
+and proves among other things, that the sort of religion prevailing
+among the people is only that of forms, possessing no sufficient hold
+over their minds to regulate their conduct.
+
+Compare their religious ideas with those of the old Scottish
+covenanters, or English puritans, and how different are the effects
+of faith; but perhaps they are not more dissimilar than the natures
+of the two races are. For there is no race in the world with all the
+good qualities of the Celtic breed crossed by the Saxon, and that
+again by the Norman; for depend upon it, blood tells in every human
+being--aye, and as much in men as in dogs or horses.
+
+But, unfortunately for ourselves, men pay less attention to the innate
+qualities and virtues of blood and pedigree, when selecting a mate for
+themselves, than they do when their dogs or horses are in question,
+as then no trouble is spared to trace out and scrutinise the qualities
+of _their_ sires, and to breed only from a good stock.
+
+By pedigree, of course not the worldly station of men is meant, but
+the history of their lives and reputations, as good and useful men of
+their time. Of necessity both parents affect the character of their
+offspring, and so we frequently see a great and good man leaving
+behind him none in his family capable of supplying his place. Now,
+how is this? Why, it comes from the mistake he has made in selecting
+his mate, for if he had been more cautious in that respect the produce
+would have been equal to the promise.
+
+How often do we see wise men with silly wives and tall men with short
+wives. The only wonder is, that the offspring of such couples are
+not worse than they are.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+The intercourse between the Spaniards and many of the foreigners
+residing at Manilla is not very great, as the British here,
+as everywhere else, appear to prefer associating with their own
+countrymen to frequenting the houses of their Spanish friends,
+even although quite sure of a cordial reception there. The time
+for visiting is in the evening, when there are numbers of impromptu
+conversaziones--or tertulias, as they are called--of which the Dons
+are very fond, and in which very many of their evenings are passed.
+
+Any one having a few Spanish acquaintances is pretty sure to number
+among them some persons who, from their own character, or that of
+some member of their family, such as a pretty and pleasant wife,
+or a handsome daughter, has generally many visitors at his house,
+perhaps six, ten, or a dozen of an evening, who call there without
+any preconcerted plan, and sit down to play a round game at cards
+or gossip with each other for an hour. Should there be ladies of the
+party, music and dancing are probably the amusements for an hour or
+two; you may, of course, escape and go on to the house of some one
+else should the party turn out to be dull, which, however, is very
+seldom the case when Spaniards are the company, as every one appears
+to exert himself to amuse and be amused to the best of his power.
+
+The time for evening visits is any time after seven o'clock, for till
+about that hour nearly all the white population are enjoying the cool
+air on the Calyada, or on some of the other drives, all of which are
+crowded with carriages from about half-past five till that time of
+the evening.
+
+Some of these equipages are handsome enough, and are almost universally
+horsed by a pair of the country ponies, there being only one or two
+people who turn out with a pair of Sydney horses, and very few who
+drive a single-horse vehicle, although it is met with now and then. The
+only persons allowed to drive four horses in their carriages are the
+Governor and the Archbishop: this regulation is frequently grumbled at
+by the Spanish Jehus, and one gentleman, the colonel of a regiment,
+having applied to the government for permission to indulge his taste
+in this respect by driving a four-in-hand, was refused it, so he had
+to content himself with turning out with only three in his drag. With
+that number of quadrupeds, however, he did a good deal to frighten and
+amuse the world, apparently wishing to break his neck, in which he very
+nearly succeeded on more than one occasion; Spanish accomplishments
+in driving being by no means equal to those general at home.
+
+A young Spaniard who fills an important office connected with the
+commerce of Manilla, a situation he is said to owe more to the frailty
+of his mother, a fair lady at the court of the late King of Spain,
+whom he exactly resembles in appearance, temper, and manners, than
+to any qualifications especially pointing him out for the post, used
+frequently to assert his royal blood by turning out a neat barouche
+and pair, accompanied by two outriders, and certainly he looked much
+smarter and better appointed than either of the authorities driving
+four horses.
+
+The expense of keeping horses is very small, so that nearly all,
+except the very poorest people, keep carriages, which in that climate
+are considered more as necessaries of life than as luxuries, and to a
+certain extent really are so; for the sun most effectually prevents
+Europeans walking to any distance during the heat of the day, and
+should any one attempt doing so, a month of it is about time enough
+seriously to injure or perhaps to kill him. About sunset everybody is
+most glad to escape from the impure air of the town and the crowded
+narrow streets, to inhale the fresh breeze from the bay on the Calyada,
+which is the most frequented drive.
+
+Formerly all the ladies turned out to drive without bonnets or
+coverings of any sort on the head, but bowled along, seated in open
+carriages, in about the same style of evening dress they would appear
+in at a tertulia or the theatre, or, in fact, at a ball-room. They
+were in the habit of spreading a sort of gum, which washed easily
+off, over the hair after it had been dressed, in order to keep out
+the dust, &c.; but within the last two years several bonnets have
+made their appearance in the carriages at the drive, and I fear
+their general use will supersede the former fashion, which from its
+simplicity allowed their most striking beauties of eyes, hair, &c.,
+to be seen in a most charming manner.
+
+Many of the Creole girls have very handsome countenances, and there
+are not a few who would be remarked upon as fine women by the side of
+any European beauty: but they are generally seen to most advantage in
+the evening, as their chief attraction does not consist in freshness
+of complexion so much as in fine features, which are often full of
+character and lighted up by eyes as brilliant as they are soft. Their
+figures are good, and their feet and ankles quite unexceptionable,
+being generally very much more neatly turned than those of my
+handsomest countrywomen.
+
+As dress is a study which has a good deal of their attention, they
+appear to understand it pretty well, but show a marked fondness for gay
+colours, as no doubt their pale complexions require their aid more than
+when ruddy health is upon their cheeks. In the forenoon the skin of a
+Creole or Spanish beauty appears to be rather too pale to please the
+general taste; and sometimes their colour degenerates into sallowness,
+which I fancy may proceed from their fondness for chocolate, that being
+very largely consumed by all of them. This, and the want of exercise,
+communicated a somewhat bilious look to their appearance.
+
+Many ladies, especially those from the northern provinces of Spain,
+have sometimes the beautiful white skins and the ruddy freshness of
+complexion so much admired in my countrywomen; but, unfortunately,
+that colour is not very lasting, as the first season they pass in
+the Philippines is generally sufficient to blanch their bloom, but
+it is very often succeeded by a soft and delicate-looking paleness,
+which is perhaps not a whit less dangerous to amatory bachelors than
+the more brilliant colours which preceded it.
+
+Although lively and talkative enough, Spanish women seldom shine in
+conversation, which perhaps is more owing to the narrow and defective
+education they too often have in youth than to any natural want of
+the quickness and tact to talk well.
+
+Their manners are peculiarly soft and pleasing, and their lively
+ingenuousness is extremely seductive. Their accomplished management
+of the fan has made it peculiarly their own weapon, and it has been
+converted into an important auxiliary to their natural good looks,
+both in attack and defence. There are few things more striking to a
+stranger than to see the ladies use it at the casino, when a number
+of them are together, and while there is no want of men to admire the
+graceful movement of the hand. Mere children are constantly seen using
+it. It is a ludicrous thing to watch one of these little creatures
+going through a set of flirting motions with a fan, should you look
+at her, copying no doubt the motions or play with it from those of
+some grown-up sister or gay mamma.
+
+Foreign ladies seldom or never attain the same degree of dexterity
+and ease in the use of their fans, the climate they were born in not
+requiring that it should be placed in their hands at an early age.
+
+The dress of Spanish ladies is becoming every day more like the
+French modes, although some elderly people still continue to use the
+country dress, which, from its coolness, is much more comfortable than
+the European habit; but it is rapidly going out, and young Spanish
+ladies never appear to wear it, as formerly they frequently did,
+within doors and in the country.
+
+The mantilla is very rarely seen, except perhaps in the morning,
+when some fair penitent goes or returns from one of the churches,
+all of which are thrown open at a very early hour in the morning, at
+or before daylight, to give the people an opportunity of going there
+unostentatiously and unnoticed, to say their prayers and get home
+again before any one, but those on an errand similar to their own,
+is likely to meet them in the streets.
+
+Nearly all the women, after reaching thirty years of age, get stout
+or fall off in flesh and become very thin, for there apparently is
+very little medium between the two degrees, as nearly all the old
+women one sees are either very fat or very thin. Of the two sorts
+the fat retain their good looks the longest; for after attaining a
+certain age, the thin women are seldom anything but atrociously ugly,
+probably caused by the climate more than anything else, as those
+Europeans who enjoy good health at Manilla appear to become stout
+in that climate, while those who get thin seldom appear to be well,
+and are unable to stand a lengthened residence there.
+
+In youth, however, their natural elasticity of character prevents
+delicate girls getting sick, if moderate care be taken of them, and
+they are generally rather more slender figures than English girls,
+until reaching about twenty-five, when they begin to get fat or to
+become thin; at that age they look very matronly.
+
+_Apropos des dames._ Even in these degenerate days, Spanish blood
+is as hot and Castilian gentlemen are as gallant as any of those of
+former times. Not long ago the following circumstance happened at
+the casino:--Don Camilo de T----, a natural son of the late King of
+Spain, after dancing with a female acquaintance, rejoined a group
+of acquaintances, who were standing together in a knot, criticising
+the appearance of their several fair friends, when just as he joined
+them some one happened to say to another that the lady he had just
+been dancing with appeared to have padded her bosom. On hearing this,
+Don Camilo took the speaker rather by surprise, by calling out "It
+is a lie," in a tone loud enough to be heard by all near him, and by
+saying that as he had just been dancing with that lady, he knew that
+it was not so, and must resent the remark as a personal affront. A
+duel took place in consequence, in which the gallant was wounded
+in the sword arm, which, by letting out a little of his hot blood,
+may probably prevent a recurrence of such extreme devotion to his
+fair acquaintances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+As a body, such Spanish gentlemen as I have been acquainted with,
+appeared to be quite as remarkable for good breeding as they usually
+have the credit of being. They generally have a great appearance of
+candour or frankness of manner, which, although it is for the most
+part more studied than natural, is prepossessing, and makes them
+pleasant companions.
+
+Here, however, I am afraid my praise must stop, because I have seen
+among a great number of them a good deal of dissimulation, or,
+to speak more plainly, of bad faith,--with regard to which their
+modes of thinking are very different from those prevailing at home;
+and among their mercantile people especially, they often appear to
+imitate, or unconsciously to act upon a smart Yankee trader's modes
+of getting the best of a bargain, being very frequently rather too
+unscrupulous in their representations, when it appears to them that
+it is for their interest to be so.
+
+To give an idea of their opinions about the subject of buying and
+selling, I will tell the reader a story. A lad, the son of a high
+government officer, sold an unsound horse to a companion as a sound
+one, which, on being discovered by the purchaser, of course made him
+very indignant, and he demanded his money back, complaining at the same
+time to the boy's father, who passes for a person of high character
+and good sense, about the scurvy trick his son had played him. "Well,"
+said this respectable old gentleman, "I am glad to see that the lad
+is so sharp; for, if he could get the better of you so well, he will
+make a capital merchant, and be able to cheat the Chinamen!"
+
+Without exaggeration this is a good deal the system on which the
+Spaniards carry on business. They always appear to be trying to take
+advantage of a purchaser, and if successful have very complaisant
+consciences; but should they themselves be taken in, or have
+the worst of a bargain, their virtuous horror and indignation on
+discovering it know no bounds. There is very little, or almost none,
+of that mutual confidence existing between them which exists between
+British merchants, and which is so necessary in large transactions,
+or in carrying on an extensive business, as they do.
+
+The large number of government _empleados_ residing at Manilla makes
+an important addition to the society of the place, as, from being idle
+men to a great extent, they seek how to amuse and be amused, and are
+cultivators of the society of the English, whose dinner tables are
+probably the chief causes of the intercourse which exists between them.
+
+The entire white population in Manilla amounts to about 5,000, a large
+proportion of them being officers, sergeants, and corporals of the
+troops stationed either within the town, or in the immediate vicinity.
+
+All the officers are not, however, persons of European descent, as
+occasionally a black may be seen in an officer's uniform, and very
+frequently is to be found wearing a sergeant's or corporal's coat. But
+the natives promoted to the rank of commissioned officers are not many,
+and on the whole it is probably better for the army that few of them
+should be so, as were it a common occurrence, or were they allowed to
+rise to high rank, or to occupy important places, beyond a doubt the
+_morale_ of the troops would suffer; for when those men do rise from
+the ranks, they are not considered on an equality by their European
+brother officers, nor in fact do they consider themselves to be so,
+and have little or no intercourse with them, beyond the routine of
+their military duties.
+
+The appearance of the troops is good on the whole; but they appeared
+to me to be wanting in precision of movement, being by no means
+equal or similar to some of our best Sepoy soldiers. It is clear
+that frequently they have not been precisely drilled into all their
+attempted evolutions. The men, as individuals, are well and powerfully
+formed, although they are rather deficient in stature and soldierly
+appearance; they are naturally bold, and when lately tried against the
+Sooloos, evinced no want of resolution to follow, when their officers
+would lead them on. I have seen several of them suffer death with an
+admirable and even heroic composure, such as any man might envy when
+his last hour comes. It is not an unfrequent thing to see soldiers
+shot at Manilla for some misdemeanours, and I have not heard of one of
+them dying a poltroon; certainly, all those I have ever seen suffer,
+met their doom with the utmost calmness.
+
+The cavalry force, for the purposes of actual conflict, is about the
+most inefficient branch of the military establishment, being mounted
+on the ponies of the country, which stand on an average about twelve
+hands. But as irregulars they might be of some use. It always appeared
+to me that a single well-mounted squadron of our heavy dragoons could,
+without any difficulty, ride down the entire regiment. The Government
+is aware of the inactive state of the horses, their attention having
+been called thereto by my friend Captain de la O----, an officer of
+the force, who, in conjunction with the colonel of the regiment, has
+for some time past been occupied in investigations, and in preparing
+estimates of the probable expense of an attempt to improve the breed
+of horses by crossing them with Arab stallions, which it has for some
+time been in contemplation to send for to cover the country mares.
+
+It would probably be necessary for Government, in order to accomplish
+this successfully, to adopt a plan similar to that followed at the East
+India Company's breeding stables in Bengal, and should the project be
+followed out and properly managed, there can be no doubt but that it
+will be of the most essential importance to the government service,
+and a boon to the country.
+
+The horses of the Philippines are small, but for their inches
+uncommonly powerful, and sometimes fast. They do not appear to have
+any distinguishing peculiarity, except perhaps that the head of most
+of them is rather too large, and very rarely indeed is that feature
+quite perfect in any of the horses one meets with. At Manilla, and
+for a considerable distance round it, no mares are allowed to be used,
+which secures a higher and better looking horse in the neighbourhood
+of the capital than is met with in the interior of the country;
+none of them are geldings, and of course they are stronger and more
+playful in consequence.
+
+But to return to the service and the officers of it whom one meets in
+society. They are not fond of being sent to the colony, and although
+with about double the amount of pay they would receive at home,
+most of them would infinitely prefer remaining in Spain.
+
+After a term of service abroad they get a step in rank, which appears
+to be the main attraction to those who come to Manilla. Many of them
+are not very well educated men, and are therefore rather inferior to
+my countrymen of the same profession in that respect.
+
+A considerable proportion of them, perhaps an equal ratio to those
+of our army, are gentlemen, or persons of good birth and family
+connections. They are in general, however, poor, or at all events not
+over burdened with the good things of this life, and like soldiers
+of all nations and times, some of them have a certain notoriety for
+outrunning the constable, or for spending all that they can, which
+is generally merely their pay. Soon after reaching Manilla, I was
+accidentally thrown a good deal into their society, from chancing to
+meet with Don Francisco Caro, a pleasant and lively young lieutenant,
+at the house of my Spanish teacher, where he was as eager to learn
+English as I was to be able to speak good Spanish. We became intimate,
+and agreed to visit each other, he to talk in English to me, and I
+to him in Spanish,--a practice which very soon enabled us to pick
+up the languages, and saved a world of trouble in getting up tasks
+for a teacher, whom we were soon able to do without. The fact of my
+going frequently to his house, and taking part in the conversation of
+himself and the many friends with whom he made me acquainted, gave me
+a considerable facility in talking the language, from having gained
+a knowledge of it in this way in place of from a pedantic teacher,
+whose purisms were quite thrown away on one whose wish it was to
+speak it fluently, although it might be at some sacrifice of elegance.
+
+Here let me record my regret at the manner in which this old companion
+and friend met his untimely fate, which is not the less regretted
+because it proceeded from his own strong sense of duty and habitual
+gallantry of spirit--for this poor fellow was a true Spaniard in all
+his best qualities. Having been ordered into the provinces with a
+detachment on the very disagreeable service of hunting up a band of
+_tulisanes_, or robbers, the necessary exposure to the sun on such an
+expedition operated so severely on his constitution as to produce a
+very high fever; yet even in this state he would not succumb to it, but
+persisted in marching for several days at the head of his men, although
+they, on perceiving his condition, had several times endeavoured to
+persuade him to make use of a litter which they had framed for the
+purpose, and wished to carry him in. But he would not remain in it
+even when they almost forced him to use it, and would take no repose
+until after having accomplished his duty. In this he was successful,
+as he surprised and destroyed the robber band,--but the effort cost
+him his life, for he died solely from the effects of the unnatural
+exertion which he had undergone while the fever was raging within him.
+
+Your many amiable and good qualities yet live, Francisco, in the fond
+memories of former friends, although you are no longer among them; and
+your heroic death, while it chastens grief, has added another memento,
+and a laurel leaf to the wreath your brave Castilian ancestors left
+behind them, bequeathed to the care of one who knew so well how to
+value and protect it, and to add to its honour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+The Church is under the regulation of an Archbishop and four
+Bishops. The present Archbishop of Manilla, whose reputation for piety
+and good feeling towards all men stands very high, is an old soldier,
+who, after serving his king when a young man as lieutenant of cavalry
+for several years, changed his master, and assuming the habit of a
+priest, devoted himself to religion for the remainder of his life.
+
+There are about 500 parochial curacies throughout the islands under
+him in the four bishoprics, 167 of the curacies being situated in his
+own see; and several literary, charitable, and pious institutions at
+Manilla look up to him as their patron and head; among others may be
+mentioned the University of Santo Tomas, having chairs for students of
+Latin, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, canon law, theology, &c.
+
+As a body, the ministers of religion in the Philippines are not
+apparently so well educated a class as those of Great Britain,
+even in the education of the schools, and are possessed of less
+general information, of course, from the want of any periodical
+literature equal to that which we have, from whose sources much of
+the information, and some of the apparent learning of my countrymen
+are derived, at little cost of time or expense.
+
+However, many of the Spanish _padres_ are men of general and varied
+attainments, such as would adorn any church or station in life; but
+the greater number of them can scarcely claim so much, as, although
+they are all respectably educated, their attention for many years
+of their life has been directed chiefly to the prosecution of such
+studies as would influence their advancement in the Church, such as
+the canon law, church history, theology, &c., on a knowledge of which
+their consideration for accomplishments among themselves principally
+depends, I believe.
+
+Most of the priests I have been in contact with, appeared to be
+thoroughly convinced of, and faithful to their religion in its purity;
+and as a body, appear to be about as sincere and pious a class as
+clergymen at home.
+
+Occasionally, however, you meet with startling exceptions to this
+rule, which astonish any one accustomed to see the high regard to
+outward decency observed by the same cloth at home; for instance,
+it would be considered most reprehensible at home, for any clergyman
+to keep a mistress; and if the fact became known, would occasion his
+instant dismissal from his cure, and his expulsion from the Church.
+
+This is not so, however, in the Philippines, and may be seen at
+any time, especially among the Mestizo and native Indian priests,
+whose education is worse, and their ideas of religion much more
+vague, incorrect, and superstitious than those of the Spaniards;
+and sometimes, in the country parishes, an Indian or Mestizo _padre_
+is found openly living in the _convento_ or parsonage-house with his
+mistress and natural children. But frequently, in cases where a sense
+of decency prevents them doing this openly, one occasionally meets
+in their houses young half-caste children, who pass for the family
+of some brother or sister, although these had never any existence,
+and there is in reality little or no doubt as to the priest himself
+being their father.
+
+This state of things, however, is not the general state of the Church,
+although it may but too frequently be met with; and is not considered
+nearly so reprehensible as it would be, were they at liberty to marry,
+as Protestant clergymen are. In many cases its existence can scarcely
+fail to be known to their bishops, by whom however it appears to be
+winked at; and is not considered by the laity as being particularly
+scandalous, their notions on the subject being somewhat indefinite.
+
+Within a very short distance of Manilla, I have been in a convento
+where the priest, his mistress, and family all lived together, the
+padre being a Mestizo. On the village feast-day, one of the party
+with whom I was in the country, hired some jugglers who had come down
+from Bengal to act their wonderful tricks in the theatre at Manilla,
+and sent them out to Mariquina on the feast-day, there to amuse the
+people, and to please the padre, as he knew it would do, he being an
+old acquaintance of his. Accordingly, in the afternoon they exhibited
+to an immense crowd of natives, just before the open church-door. A
+platform had been quickly erected for their accommodation, from which
+they were exhibiting their tricks to the intense astonishment of the
+Indians, most of whom had never seen anything of the sort before;
+and in the evening, the padre having asked leave for the jugglers
+to come to the convento, gave a great party to all the Spaniards,
+or white men, who were then in the pueblo, in order to watch their
+tricks more closely than could be done at a public exhibition.
+
+Several Spanish ladies were present, and among them, quite as a matter
+of course, was the mistress of the priest. One or two of the ladies
+present were wives of high officials at Manilla, and all of them were
+persons of the best character and standing, yet they did not appear in
+the least discomposed by her presence, although none of them paid her
+any attention, or noticed her as the lady of the house; in fact, she
+appeared to be regarded by them as a sort of privileged housekeeper
+more than in any other light, although they were perfectly aware
+of the irregularity of her life. This may give some idea of their
+modes of thinking of such affairs, for all of them present perfectly
+understood the relation in which the spiritual adviser of so large
+a population as that of Mariquina stood to her.
+
+Both the priest and she were elderly people, and their intercourse
+has, I understood, been of long standing; and during the course of it
+several children have been born. But the most wonderful thing appears
+to be, how such a man could direct the worship of his parishioners,
+or lay before them the scripture tenets of his and their faith,
+while openly violating it before their eyes. But the same thing has
+taken place in Europe not unfrequently, and quite as openly, without
+exciting excessive scandal in many places.
+
+There is an immense deal more of immorality among the clergy of
+all denominations and countries than would be believed. Alas, for
+human nature!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+The site of Manilla is low-lying and level, and as the country in
+the vicinity of the capital is of the same nature, being covered by
+far stretching paddy fields, it presents few picturesque attractions,
+in order to enjoy which, and the verdure, freshness, and variety of
+an undulating landscape, excursions are frequently made to various
+places at some short distance from the town, and during some period
+of each year, most of the foreign merchants have latterly got into
+the plan of renting houses within driving distance, and of spending
+most of the dry season in them, going and returning frequently, or
+generally daily, to their counting-houses, so long as the roads are
+passable. The village of Mariquina, about seven miles from Manilla,
+is the most favourite place of resort, although the road to it is
+very bad, but it presents the attractions of very good pure air and
+water, and a bright landscape. Those persons who are not fond of horse
+exercise, make use of American light spider-carriages, drawn by a pair
+of ponies, as that sort of vehicle is found to be the only conveyance
+capable of standing the ruts and jolting over these country paths,
+which would to a certainty break the springs of any other description
+of carriage I have ever seen.
+
+Owing to their great lightness and strength, these spider-carriages
+are favourite conveyances here, and these qualities render them by
+much the most suitable description for the country.
+
+In the neighbourhood of Mariquina, the country is in many respects
+picturesque and fine; a more lovely _coup d'oeil_ is seldom seen,
+than that which may be witnessed from the road at the top of the hill
+just before beginning the descent leading past the old Jesuit Convent,
+a partly ruinous building, now known by the name of the Hacienda;
+from that point, looking down on the valleys which burst on the view
+at once, especially at the season when they are waving with the ripe
+and yellow grain, or clothed in a beautiful coat of green,--on the
+fine river, peacefully winding through them, on the splendid old trees
+covered with green and luxuriant foliage, which are interspersed and
+dot the scene, across to the distant hills, clothed in all the glories
+of a tropical sunset or sunrise, and varied by the many tints of light
+and shade of brilliant colours, it often is a sight truly worthy of
+being witnessed for its glowing beauty.
+
+At Mariquina, there is a well, the water of which has the reputation
+of curing many sorts of disease, more especially those of the skin,
+and many are the sufferers who visit it in the hope that bathing in
+the trough into which the spring drops, may cure their ailments. The
+water is slightly tepid and not disagreeable to drink, being tasteless,
+and is recommended for diseases of the kidneys and stomach, by the
+Manilla doctors.
+
+Some miles beyond Mariquina, there is a most curious cave, of great
+extent, at the village of San Mateo, which is well worthy of a visit
+by the curious. Shortly after entering it, the height of the cavern
+rises to about fifty feet, although it varies continually,--so much
+so, that at some places there is scarcely height enough for a man
+to sit upright. The formations within are of a singular character,
+resembling sometimes immense icicles pendant from the roof to within
+a few feet of the floor, or in some places rising from the ground
+like ever-growing pyramids, as from the dropping water they are
+continually increasing. These pillars of stalactite are extremely hard
+and difficult to splinter, even after repeated blows with a hammer,
+some of them being beautifully milk white, while others appear rather
+discoloured from some cause. Several of the columns hanging from the
+roof may measure about a yard or more in circumference, their forms
+being sometimes most curious and fantastic, one stalk expanding as
+it descended, looked not unlike a gigantic leaf springing from its
+slender arm.
+
+From the main cave there are several openings diverging and leading
+to chambers similar to the main room, by some openings at the sides
+of which the dropping water is drained off.
+
+The temperature within the cavern was 77 deg., and without 86 deg., being a
+very considerable change, even in the cool of the evening, on coming
+out of it, just after sunset. I am afraid to give an estimate as to
+the extent of this immense cave, it requires, however, five or six
+hours to partially see its curiosities, and of course would take far
+more time to investigate it properly. The only living creatures met
+within it, appear to be bats, which are not very numerous. Should a
+sportsman visit the place for several days, his gun will generally
+procure him some venison and wild pig to feast upon, or to present
+to the village priest, or to forward to his Mariquina or Manilla
+acquaintances. At Boroboso, also, some distance from Mariquina, he
+is sure of finding similar game, and in greater quantity than at San
+Mateo, where it is too much poached.
+
+The great want he will experience is that of trained dogs, those
+used by the Indians being nearly useless, as after alarming the game
+by their noise, they can't hunt it with any thing like spirit. Some
+few Kangaroo dogs, however, brought from Sydney, have been eagerly
+purchased by the Indian sportsmen, and are said to be an immense
+improvement on those of the country, although I have never seen their
+performances in the field; from their speed and strength, however,
+they appear more than a match for the deer of the islands, which are
+small-sized and greatly inferior in strength to those of the Highlands
+of Scotland.
+
+The race of dogs formerly known as Manilla bloodhounds has become quite
+extinct, although some descendants of a half-bred progeny still remain,
+being a cross between them and the street curs. Although they possess
+some of the fierce and savage qualities of the old hound, it is in
+a much inferior degree to that of the genuine breed, whose size and
+appearance was very much finer than any of the mongrels now to be seen.
+
+The old breed were so fierce as to be absolutely unsafe when at
+liberty, and always required to be chained up. Several years ago two
+fine dogs of the old breed were procured with considerable trouble,
+and at some expense sent to England, to a gentleman fond of dogs.
+
+He gave orders to keep them at all times on the chain, during which
+they behaved so well, that a groom, going out to air a horse one
+morning, unloosed the chain of one of them, and took him along
+with him.
+
+The dog remained quiet enough till happening to meet another man,
+also airing a pair of skittish horses,--the capering of the horses,
+or something else, roused the brute's savage nature, and he sprang
+on one of them like a tiger, fastening on his flank, and sucking
+his blood so greedily that all the two men could do did not make the
+savage beast quit his hold, till gorged with the blood of the victim.
+
+The horse was spoiled for ever, or, I believe, died from the
+hemorrhage, and as he chanced to be a valuable one, which, of course,
+the owner of the dog had to pay for, he was so disgusted at having to
+do so, that he made both of them be shot at once, in order to prevent
+any possibility of the recurrence of such an accident.
+
+The only other dog at Manilla besides the worthless street cur, is a
+sort of ladies' poodle, with long and silky white hairs; their fine
+coats only making them favorites, as they are good for nothing else
+than women's pets.
+
+The smaller these are, when full grown, the more they are esteemed;
+their white hair should be entirely free from any spots of black or
+brown, these being generally the mark of a mongrel breed.
+
+They are so delicate, that few of them can stand a sea-voyage,
+and all those I have ever sent away from Manilla, to any distance,
+have died before reaching their destination. A well-bred dog of this
+breed of middling size, is about as large as a full grown tom-cat,
+or a little bigger.
+
+It has always appeared to me a most curious and inexplicable fact,
+that when good dogs are sent out from home to a hot climate such as
+this, they invariably are found to deteriorate to an uncommon extent,
+the heat causing them to lose their spirit, and also their scent. But,
+in fact, the animal in perfection, or, as he has been truly called
+at home, "the most intelligent of beasts, and the companion of man,"
+is only found in some places of Europe to be such.
+
+In all tropical countries he is no longer so, becoming, even should
+a good breed be introduced there from Europe, very much inferior in a
+few generations in all respects to what we have him in Great Britain,
+where they appear to be found in the greatest perfection.
+
+In hot climates the dog has not the same strength or swiftness, nor
+is he of equal courage, sincerity, and gentleness of character which
+peculiarly distinguish him from all other animals at home. Among
+orientals he is no longer treated in the same manner as he is in
+Europe, nor in fact does his character, as it exists among them,
+deserve equal kindness to that usually shown this faithful animal
+in Britain; but in Asia he is driven from their households by the
+Mohammedans and Hindoos alike, being regarded by them all as useless,
+and a pest.
+
+In China, he is fattened for the table, and the flesh of dogs is
+as much liked by them as mutton is by us, being exposed for sale by
+their butchers and in their cook-shops.
+
+At Canton, I have seen the hind quarters of dogs hanging up in the
+most prominent parts of their shops exposed for sale.
+
+They are considered in China as a most dainty food, and are consumed
+by both the rich and the poor.
+
+The breeds common in that country are apparently peculiar to itself,
+and they are apparently objects of more attention to their owners
+than elsewhere in Asia, the Celestials perhaps having an eye to their
+tender haunches, which bad treatment would toughen and spoil. They do
+not appear to be of greater sagacity than the other tropical breeds,
+although more bulky and stronger-looking than most of the other sorts
+I have seen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+All strangers coming to Manilla should endeavour to make an excursion
+to the great inland lake, or Laguna de Bay, as it is likely well to
+repay the inconvenience one has to stand in such an excursion from
+exposure to the sun, &c. The lake is of very considerable extent,
+measuring, I think, about twenty-eight miles at its greatest length,
+by about twenty-two at its extreme breadth; it is formed by an
+amphitheatre of mountains, the various streams from which feed it;
+and its opening or outlet forms the origin of the river Pasig, which,
+bathing the walls of the fortress of Santiago and the capital of the
+Philippines, flows into the arm of the sea called Manilla Bay.
+
+About Christmastide there are many visitors to the lake, as from the
+then cooler season the necessary exposure to the heat of a midday sun
+in a slightly-covered boat is comparatively innocuous, and much less
+disagreeable than it would prove at any other time of the year.
+
+Several foreigners are in the habit of making an annual excursion
+there from Manilla to spend these holidays, during which there is no
+other amusement in town than church-going and procession-staring.
+
+Having made arrangements to visit the lake either by starting from
+Manilla in a large Pasig banca or prow, which although more tedious
+than driving to the village of Guadaloupe, near Pasig, and then taking
+the water, is, I think, the better plan of the two, as the river
+scenery is well worth seeing, and there are no inconveniences such
+as are inseparable from that of changing conveyances at Guadaloupe,
+&c. When I started, my companion, who luckily happened to be an
+experienced man in such affairs, having at different times of his
+life roamed through the backwoods of Canada, and over the plains of
+Australia, recommended the water conveyance for the whole distance,
+as we were not pushed for time; and the excursion turned out to be one
+of the pleasantest I have ever been engaged in, from the satisfactory
+nature of his arrangements and his own hilarity and good-natured
+usefulness; for of course he had not knocked about so much without
+acquiring some _savoir faire_, so desirable in a companion during
+such an excursion.
+
+On Christmas eve we went together to a large dancing party or ball,
+given by an old and rich Mestizo, at whose house we kept up dancing
+and enjoying ourselves till about midnight; shortly before which all
+the men started, in company with the ladies, to the parish church of
+San Sebastian, there to hear a midnight mass, and welcome in the sacred
+anniversary by saying our prayers. The spectacle was rather a fine one;
+and on looking at the devout up-turned features of my fair companion,
+when kneeling at her devotions, I could scarcely believe that she was
+the good-natured, lively Mestiza girl I had been flirting with not
+five minutes before; but after half an hour's worship, which, to do
+them justice, was apparently of the most sincere and heartfelt kind,
+the fair penitents returned to the supper room with a number of the
+heretics, and afterwards, notwithstanding all their prayers, danced
+with us, being quite as lively and as full of flirting as before their
+visit to church. We stopped till about three o'clock in the morning,
+when, being thoroughly tired of the heated rooms, my companion and I
+resolved to enter the boat which had been engaged for the occasion,
+and in which clothes, provender, &c., had previously been embarked,
+and left under charge of a servant, Fernando, at a landing-place
+from the river, near the house where we had been invited to pass the
+evening. Taking the precaution to eat a hearty supper, to keep out
+the night air, on arriving at the boat, and wrapping ourselves up in
+our blankets, we both very speedily began to enjoy the rest necessary
+for next day's exertions; and having previously secured our crew of
+five picked men to pull, we were rapidly approaching the Laguna when
+we awoke, and daylight had just rested on their oars next morning;
+after breakfast, and a bath in the cool and delicious water of the
+river above Pasig, we quickly passed by the pateros or villages for
+breeding ducks, situated among the swamps at the outlets of the lake,
+and the beginning of the river.
+
+Several of these duck villages can scarcely be said to be situated on
+_terra firma_, as many of the _nipa_ or attap-houses are founded on
+the supporting trunks of trees growing out of the sedgy swamp. The
+houses have a small lower platform of bamboo on two sides, for a
+cooking-place and for landing from a boat, below and around being trees
+or bamboos growing out of the water. Many of these clumps of bamboo,
+some of which attain a great height, occasionally, perhaps, as much as
+150 feet, are from their numbers a peculiar feature in the landscape
+of the Philippines, and form some of the most beautiful objects of
+luxuriant vegetation that can be imagined for a landscape. They are
+found growing wild, very grand and fresh-looking in all parts of
+the country, and are of many varieties, some of which any one may be
+acquainted with who takes the trouble to consult the good old Padre
+Blanco's book on the _flora de Filipinas_.
+
+At the pateros, near the entrance to the Laguna, the people breed large
+flocks of ducks to supply the Manilla market, to the exclusion of all
+other employment except, perhaps, catching and drying enough fish to
+season their rice, which most of them purchase, and very few of them
+grow. These Indians, although few in number, are to a considerable
+extent isolated from the people of the country, from what cause I
+know not, but they very rarely associate or intermarry except with
+each other. The ducks they breed for the market are well trained,
+being perfectly obedient to the call of their different masters,
+and on hearing his signal come quickly sailing back, should they have
+gone too far away. They get fat on the fish and tender sedgy grass,
+and when placed on the dinner-table are very good eating.
+
+After entering the lake, which is studded with wooded islets, the
+largest of which is named Talim, the gun is called into requisition,
+as the immense flocks of wild duck breeding here afford a constant
+sport, and the advantages of their acquisition are not likely to be
+overlooked either by the _gourmand_ or the hungry tourist. They are,
+however, rather wild, and the best mode of shooting them appears
+to be to dress in a blue cotton shirt and trousers like an Indian,
+and paddle off as near the flock as they will permit; and then for a
+chance among them. If there is more than one person in the grass-boat,
+which is a very small and unhooded banca, which the natives use for
+carrying small quantities of grass for horses, &c., the ducks are
+apt to take the alarm, although I have sometimes been successful in
+getting near them with an Indian paddling the boat.
+
+Besides the ducks there are several other kinds of wild fowl,
+and on coasting round the shores of Talim, an alligator basking
+in the sun, frequently offers a mark for a ball, which, however,
+seldom proves fatal. I struck one on the scales without producing
+any apparent damage, the distance being probably about thirty yards,
+and he merely shook himself a little and tumbled into the water from
+off the rock he had been sleeping on, without seeming much startled
+or to be in the least wounded. They are said to reach an immense age,
+and the most incredible stories are told, and apparently believed,
+by the natives themselves of their traditional longevity.
+
+On Talim some deer and pigs may now and then be seen, although it
+is too much frequented and disturbed to be at all a sure cover for
+them; my companion shot a very beautiful variety of the hawk on the
+island. After enjoying the hospitality of M. Vidie, an old French
+planter at Jalajala, we set off in the direction of Tanay, whence we
+had heard good reports of the game.
+
+During a strong monsoon there is sometimes a heavy swell on the
+water of the Laguna, and occasionally boats are swamped or upset,
+so that frequently when we used to go out in our Pasig banca it was
+against the will of our boatmen; but like true and stubborn Britons,
+we always insisted upon having our own way, although the boatmen, who
+certainly knew most about it, used to predict that we should all be
+swamped to a certainty, but a well-trimmed and moderately well-handled
+boat can go through any sea, and it is generally from want of care that
+accidents occur. On one occasion in Manilla Bay, I have been swamped
+solely from that cause, and the fright of a companion, whose alarm
+induced the catastrophe by diverting the men's attention. However,
+as an American whaler was luckily near and saw our situation, they
+lowered a whale-boat and picked us up.
+
+At the lake, in stormy weather, we used to go out with two men
+steering the boat, each with a powerful paddle, and the remainder
+of the crew managing the sail. Sometimes we got half full of water,
+which it was the duty of the boy Fernando to bale out, but when he got
+seasick and tired, we both set to to keep her free. On one occasion
+of the sort, my chum Adam, taking pity on the forlorn condition of
+the puking Fernando, recommended to him frequent sips from a bottle
+of brandy, to keep away the retching; the hint was not thrown away,
+and the lad lay down in the bottom of the boat, looking as miserable
+as possible, and quite sick, utterly forgetful or unconscious of the
+soiled condition of the splendid pina shirt which he wore at the time;
+although in his hours of ease it commonly attracted a large proportion
+of his regard and self-complacency. After many sips, apparently, the
+brandy produced the desired effect, as my follower ceased to project
+his mouth, every now and then, over the side of the banca, but had
+sunk into a sound sleep, caused, we imagined, by the exhaustion and
+lassitude subsequent to sea-sickness; and so he remained till our
+approaching Tanay, when the sail was lowered, and he roused up and
+left to bring our luggage up to the Casa Real, or townhouse, where
+there is always a chamber and bedstead for strangers. For that place
+we started, leaving him to follow.
+
+After waiting some time impatiently, we were rather surprised to
+see two of the boatmen marching up with Fernando, who gave tokens of
+extreme lassitude and unsteadiness of gait, showing at times, when
+he raised his drooping head, an attempt to shake off his conductors,
+who were on these little manifestations reinforced by two of their
+companions, who followed them, bearing our portmanteaus; and at length
+the procession would move on again. After some difficulty they got
+him into the Casa Real, where one of the men, spreading a mat upon
+the floor, laid him down on it, staring wildly about him. After
+contemplating him for a few seconds, he turned to me, and, inverting
+the mouth of an empty bottle, to prove satisfactorily that it was
+empty of the _vieux cognac_, which was marked on the label, laid it
+down beside him, saying, "Es muy boracho, Senor, pero es valiente."
+
+And so resulted the cure of sea-sickness by brandy, of which the lad
+had taken such a dose as to shake him severely, although a strong
+young fellow, for several days after it; in fact, we both became
+afraid of him, and vowed never again to recommend the medicine,
+except in quantities less than a bottle at a time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+Adam W---- having on a former shooting expedition been at Tanay,
+had at the time made the acquaintance of some of the townspeople,
+who had shown him all the attentions in their power; so that soon
+after our arrival, having dressed and refreshed at the Casa Real,
+we sallied out together to call on several of his old acquaintances,
+hoping to obtain from some of them such information and assistance
+as would help us discovering the whereabouts of a good huntsman and
+guide, in order that we might avail ourselves of his local knowledge
+in selecting the best district of the neighbourhood for sport.
+
+On entering the house of the Fiel of Tobacco, we were most hospitably
+received and warmly invited to take quarters there during our residence
+in Tanay; and as the offer was much too good to be refused, even
+had it been less warmly backed by the unequivocal demonstrations
+of welcome than those which they evinced, it was at once accepted,
+with not the less good-will because there was only the Casa Real
+to sleep in had we chosen to refuse it, which assuredly no one who
+had the fear of bugs, fleas, or musquitoes before his eyes would do,
+these animals being of the utmost size and activity in every one of
+the Casas Reales I have ever slept in.
+
+After some conversation with our host, who was rather a fine-looking
+Spanish Mestizo, as to our plans, &c., he most good-naturedly set
+off to seek a huntsman whom he recommended as a guide, leaving us in
+the meantime to the society of his wife--a strapping native beauty,
+although somewhat swarthy, full of good nature and the gossip of the
+place. From her, Adam soon learned all about his former acquaintances,
+and among others of the Capitan Tomas, his buxom wife, and pretty
+daughter, who we were told was considered the beauty of the town.
+
+After their names had been mentioned with that addition, he got
+rather impatient all of a sudden for a stroll about the town; so we
+started together, after paying a visit to our portmanteaus and the
+still insensible Fernando, at the town-house, where my friend armed
+himself with a bottle of eau de Cologne, a box of which I found that
+he carried about with him for distribution among such native beauties
+as he was ambitious of standing well with, for they were sure to like
+this perfume, which his experience of the country taught him was seldom
+procurable in such out-of-the-way places, and to a dead certainty
+always procured him favour in the eyes of the unsophisticated fair,
+whom he taught how to use it.
+
+For this it was that he had hinted something about thieves and the
+state of Fernando, and proposed looking in to see if the portmanteaus
+were still safe at the Casa Real, so I resolved to be revenged
+for the double dealing of his proposal upon seeing the top of the
+Cologne bottle peeping out from his shooting-jacket pocket. I watched
+a chance, and snatched it away without being noticed, determined that
+the half-caste beauty whose praises he was so eloquent in during our
+promenade, should not have him to thank it for at all events.
+
+We reached the house, and were well received by the Capitan, who
+pressed us to stop with him, and when he found we were engaged, invited
+us to pass next day with him, which, as the beauty was looking her very
+best, there was great risk of our doing, in preference to prosecuting
+our pig-shooting scheme, as had been originally intended. Poor Adam was
+evidently smitten by her attractions. After talking with these good
+people for some time, I observed that his attention was engrossed
+in watching Rita's movements, when, as the Capitan, his wife, and
+myself were all standing at an open window, looking at the flowers in
+his garden, and talking away, and their daughter, occupied in some
+household duty, was leaving the sala, Adam, who had been watching
+like a lynx for such an opportunity, seized it on the moment, and
+managed to slip away from us, and get out of the room after her, in
+the hopes of being able to snatch a kiss or something of the sort,
+and to present the scented water, which he had not missed from his
+pocket, although as he slipped away in all the agitation of pursuit,
+I saw first one hand and then the other slipped into the pockets of
+the coat where it should have been; but he was so much engaged in
+getting out of the room quickly and silently, that he did not miss
+it. Reaching the open door just as she had gone out, when about two
+paces beyond it, he popped his head over her shoulder unobserved, and
+stole a kiss; I heard the smack, then a rustle, and then a titter,
+during which Adam was searching his pockets for the missing bottle,
+which of course he did not find there; and when he said something
+or other about the kiss, he foolishly, in his search for it, told
+her that he had lost so very desirable a present; upon which, as he
+afterwards told me, the beauty looked saucy, and very plainly did
+not believe a word about it, but fancied he had invented the story to
+excuse the kiss, and pretended to get a little angry with the liberty
+taken with her blooming cheek; so she walked off, and left him quite
+at a loss to account for its disappearance.
+
+Before leaving, I took an opportunity of presenting the missing bottle
+at a time when the owner of it was not by, and fancied, from the blush
+which gave additional beauty to her cheek as I did so, that with the
+natural quickness of a woman and a beauty, she had read the stratagem
+played off on poor Adam; so she frankly offered me the same reward,
+by presenting her blooming lips to be kissed, even by so very recent
+an acquaintance.
+
+On making arrangements for a shooting party, it is quite necessary to
+hire beaters to drive the game, which there would be little chance
+otherwise of sighting, without undergoing more walking than most
+people find pleasant under a tropical sun.
+
+Having had the precaution to bring our own saddles with us, some
+miserable-looking ponies were procured, and started with a guide at
+an early hour in the morning, along a path formed for the most part,
+up and down thickly wooded hills, the road being sometimes a dry
+watercourse, or mountain stream.
+
+However, we got over the ground, passing through a beautiful country,
+and arrived at the meet after a four hours' ride, the place appointed
+being a hut belonging to the huntsman, and surrounded by three paddy
+fields, which he tilled, with his family, but did not live there,
+except at planting and reaping time, or for about six weeks of the
+year, from fear of the tulisanes, who, he said, frequented this
+wild and uninhabited neighbourhood. This is a frequent effect of the
+bad police of the Philippines, as much of the country that might be
+most advantageously cultivated, is abandoned to the jungle, solely
+from fear of these robbers, who sometimes add to their plundering
+propensities crimes of a more atrocious dye.
+
+After some good sport with deer and pigs, which constituted the supper
+of ourselves and all the beaters, night was very welcome, and seldom,
+indeed, did either of us enjoy repose more than in this hut, although
+through the holes in the grass walls of it the wind was whistling,
+and near us the beaters were noisily carousing, miscellaneously,
+upon sherry, cognac, and beer, it mattered not which to them, for we
+had presented some bottles of each, in order to celebrate the good
+day's sport.
+
+Next morning we heard of a wild cimmarone (or buffalo) having been
+seen in the neighbourhood some days previously, and endeavoured to
+find out his whereabouts, but none of the scouts could get a trace of
+him. Although these splendid animals are occasionally found in the
+country, they are not very common, and their reputation for savage
+ferocity is so great, that few of the Indians like to shoot them,
+because, if merely wounded without being disabled, they are certain
+to charge the hunter, which is more than Oriental nerves are fond of.
+
+Monkeys chattering in the trees are very common; but I never shot
+any of them, having, in truth, an antipathy to kill a brute with a
+shape so nearly human.
+
+Near this end of the lake few Europeans ever go, as it is quite out
+of the beaten track, which leads them in an opposite direction, to
+look down the crater of a volcano, generally simmering, but seldom
+boiling over to such an extent as to spout lava to any distance.
+
+Calamba and Calawan are also places they usually go to see; at
+the latter of which, there is a cotton-spinning mill, the property
+of a Mestizo, who dresses like a Spaniard, and no doubt wishes to
+be considered such. The machinery employed is of Belgian or French
+make, and of a very simple construction, and far from being equal to
+the sort now used at home for the purpose; but is considered by its
+owner to be the only sort that would answer well there, as it can be
+kept in order, and even, I believe, put into repair on occasion by a
+native blacksmith, who acts as engineer, which could not, of course,
+be the case were machinery of a finer and more complex and elaborate
+construction employed, as that would render a staff of good European
+workmen essential to keep it in order and good repair, and their pay
+in this climate, would run away with all the profits of the adventure.
+
+The yarn produced is of the coarser descriptions, and is only saleable
+to the native weavers of cotton cloth, by the excessive duty put on
+grey cotton twist of British manufacture, which is 40 per cent. on a
+high _ad valorem_ valuation if imported by a Spanish ship, and 50 per
+cent. if by any foreign vessel, amounting virtually to a prohibition
+on its importation.
+
+At the village of Los Banos, on the shores of the laguna, there are
+some hot springs, flowing into baths cut out of the natural rock.
+
+The temperature of the water as it issues from the rock is sufficient
+to boil an egg; but not having a thermometer, we were unable to
+ascertain it more exactly. As it mixes with the cool water of the
+laguna, however, the heat decreases, and at sunrise on a cool morning
+forms just there a very pleasant bath. The baths, from which the place
+is named, having for long been little frequented by invalids, are now
+in a semi-ruinous state. In cases of debility they are said to be most
+beneficial, and the old Manilla doctor, Don Lorenzo Negrao, whose long
+experience of the country and of the diseases incidental to it is most
+valuable, in such cases sometimes recommends his patients to try these
+baths for some peculiar diseases, and once recommended them to me.
+
+The great mistake of our doctors in India is dosing their patients
+with calomel, which, although necessary in some cases, where it is the
+only medicine powerful enough to arrest the rapid strides with which
+disease advances in tropical countries, is too often had recourse to,
+when simples would be just as effective. And this mistake of theirs is
+equalled, in bad effects only, by the practice of the Spanish doctors,
+who will never administer calomel at all, even in the most urgent
+cases, as they prefer trusting altogether to simple remedies for a
+cure, and if a patient dies who has had calomel administered to him,
+do not hesitate to tell the practitioner who gave it that the medicine
+killed him.
+
+Within the tropics lengthened residence is the most essential
+qualification in a medical attendant, as although old men may not be
+so well up to the latest improvements of the science as those fresh
+from college, yet they have from practice found out the best way of
+treating tropical diseases, to which the treatment applicable in a
+London, Edinburgh, or Paris hospital in similar cases, would be quite
+out of place when practised in so different a climate as the tropics,
+where the symptoms vary and succeed each other with ten times the
+rapidity they do in Europe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+Before leaving Manilla on a lengthened country excursion, it is always
+desirable to procure introductions to the priests of the district you
+are going to visit, which may be effected with very little difficulty
+by almost any of your Spanish acquaintances. As although they are
+in general a most hospitable class of men, and usually invite any
+respectable looking European whom chance may throw in their way, to
+sleep at the convento if he be passing the night at their village,
+yet without an introduction one remains always a stranger to them,
+and sees nothing of their usual habits or modes of life.
+
+Sometimes their good-nature is put to a trial by the eccentricities
+of their British guests, and some odd incidents happen. A good story
+is told of one of the former British merchants of the place, who
+having taken it into his head to make an excursion, before starting
+provided himself with letters of recommendation from the Archbishop
+of Manilla, to whom he paid court by loans of newspapers, addressed
+to the parish priests, and set off with these in his pocket, finding
+them of the greatest service in insuring a welcome wherever he went,
+being described therein in the most favourable colours, by the high
+church dignitary.
+
+One day, after a long and fatiguing ride, he arrived, about two in the
+afternoon, in a very ravenous state, at a convent or parsonage. On
+ascending the stairs of the convento, the first thing which met the
+eyes of the hungry traveller was a table neatly arranged for the
+padre's dinner, who, he was informed by the servants, would be back
+in about an hour to dine. An hour still--why it seemed to be a century
+since he had broken his fast; however, he waited for what appeared to a
+hungry man to be a long time, but in reality was probably ten minutes,
+when, losing all patience at the non-appearance of the priest, whose
+house he had so coolly taken possession of, he told the boys to put
+something to eat on the table, and they, apparently mistaking his
+meaning, in a trice served up the good priest's half-cooked dinner,
+which, without the delay of asking any questions, he proceeded to
+devour. In a very short space of time he had cleared away the best
+part of it, and was beginning to relax in his exertions, as the good
+effects of a hearty meal began to mollify his craving stomach, in
+fact he was just beginning to attack the last relic of a fat capon,
+which formed the main battle of the dishes set out before him, when
+a heavy footstep was heard on the stairs, and in another instant the
+gaunt figure of the priest himself stood before the empty plates on the
+dinner table, and the unknown and unexpected guest, whose jaws were at
+the moment occupied in masticating the last morsel of the fat fowl,
+which the father had ordered for himself, and looking forward to it
+had caused him to take a lengthened promenade, in order to promote
+appetite. Imagine the scene--but whether the good padre's momentary
+wrath, and then utter astonishment and indignation, or the guest's
+embarrassment, were greatest--or the most ludicrous, it would be hard
+to determine. For some time they merely looked at each other, without
+speaking--the priest, probably, because he could not articulate--and
+his guest, perhaps, because his mouth was full--till the absurdity of
+the whole affair apparently striking them both at once, they mutually
+broke out into laughter, the violence of which threatened to convulse
+them. From this, however, the padre was the first to recover, when the
+intruder, mastering his muscles, regained his countenance so far as
+to be able to mutter something in the shape of an apology, in which,
+probably, the word "starvation" was the only one intelligible; after
+it had been good-humouredly received, and the priest had welcomed the
+strange guest, the Archbishop's letter was produced as his credentials,
+but not till then. And afterwards they passed the evening together in
+the old convento, which, as the evening advanced, rang to many a merry
+laugh and jest about the affair in which both had figured so awkwardly.
+
+The caprices of all the visitors to the country are not, however,
+so harmless; it is not long since a party of young men, headed by one
+notorious for his love of fun, and what are called practical jokes,
+chartered a _chatta_, or covered cargo boat, of from 25 to 30 tons,
+and having put two carronades on board of her, set sail for the laguna,
+and while there amused themselves by bearing down, after nightfall,
+on the villages and towns on its banks, and bombarding them with the
+guns, taking care, however, not to do harm or to kill any one, either
+by not shooting the guns, or if there was a ball in one of them, by
+aiming it a little over the houses, so as not to damage them. On the
+noise made by the guns being heard, and the flash seen so close to them
+in the dark nights, the whole male population of the place would turn
+out in haste to repel the attack of this supposed band of tulisanes,
+arming themselves with any sort of weapon, and getting the women and
+children out of harm's way by sending them off--and probably an urgent
+despatch would be forwarded by the gobernadorcillo of the village to
+the governor of the province, if he lived within some few miles of
+him, requesting assistance--or detailing the flight of the robbers,
+who, on seeing the determination and force of the villagers prepared
+to defend their hearths, had not ventured to attempt landing, but had
+sailed away without having been able to do any damage to the pueblo.
+
+These midnight bombardments were repeated so frequently as to lead the
+local authorities to make great efforts to put down the daring troop
+of robbers who bearded them at their very doors at the town of Santa
+Cruz, near which the Governor lives, and kept the country people,
+who had begun to talk about them, in a state of constant alarm.
+
+Notwithstanding all their efforts to discover the hiding-place of the
+band, nothing could be found out about them, no one ever imagining
+that the party of gentlemen in the chatta could be at all mixed up
+with them--in fact, the well-intentioned alcalde of the province,
+hearing that such a party was visiting the lake, sent off a _ministro_
+to give them information about the desperate band of tulisanes who
+were lurking in the neighbourhood, and advised them to be upon their
+guard against an attack; for which attention they of course thanked
+him, and assured the envoy that it was for that reason only they had
+provided themselves with the two formidable looking pieces of ordnance
+which he saw in the boat.
+
+They were not found out to have been representing the parts of the
+supposed tulisanes, till, on their return to Manilla, where people
+had heard of the disturbances in the province of the Laguna by these
+robbers, and were talking about it, the story somehow got wind, and,
+when it was known who had caused so much trouble, of course there
+was a general laugh at the local authorities.
+
+Lucky enough it was, however, that the affair rested there, as all
+of the party might have suffered severely for their amusement and
+fondness for carronading. It only caused the government to increase
+their strictness in giving passports to the country, which now were
+only conceded on the pleas of urgent business, or of ill health when
+that was backed by a medical certificate; the alcalde also became
+more strict in seeing that all travellers through the province were
+provided with these documents.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+In the course of these excursions to the country, the native Indians,
+with a stray half-breed, generally of the China Mestizo race, are
+nearly the only people met with, as few Europeans are settled in the
+provinces, except in the provincial capitals, or near the alcalde,
+whose dependents they generally are. Should a stranger be able to
+speak to the natives in their own language, he has a much better
+opportunity of becoming acquainted with their character, habits,
+and feelings, than if he is merely able to speak Spanish, a language
+which only a very small proportion of them understand in the country,
+although most of those in the neighbourhood of Manilla can speak
+it after a fashion. For although the law makes it requisite for the
+Capitan of every pueblo to be able to speak as well as to read and
+write Spanish, yet this is not always the case, as I have frequently
+met with these officials, more especially in out-of-the-way places,
+who did not understand it.
+
+Nearly the whole, certainly above three-fourths of the population, make
+use of the Tagala or Tagaloc language, which, so far as I am aware,
+is quite peculiar to these islands, having little or no similarity
+to Malayee, so that it does not appear to have been derived from a
+Malay root, although some few Malay words have been engrafted on it,
+probably from the circumstance of that language being made use of
+in the province of Bisayas, which is the only place in the islands
+where it is spoken.
+
+In Pampanga province, the natives speak a distinct language, differing
+entirely from Tagaloc, quite as much as Welsh does from English,
+although many of the Pampangans, on growing up, find it useful to know
+how to speak the Tagaloc, which most of them understand a little of.
+
+The _Negritos_, who are found in some parts of the islands, are a
+peculiar race, with features exactly resembling the African negro,
+although in general smaller made men, but formed with all the
+characteristics of the African. They also use a distinct language,
+and have very little intercourse with either of the other races--many
+tribes of them living, even up to this day, independent of, and
+unsubdued by, the Spaniards, whose active missionaries have however
+of late years been making every effort to reduce them to allegiance
+to the government of Manilla, as well as to the religion of the cross.
+
+These good men have penetrated, where soldiers dare not enter with
+arms in their hands, and in their case, truly, the sword has given
+place to the gown, with good effects to all concerned in the reduction
+of these wild Indians to the Roman Catholic faith, and the arts of
+civilized life; for many hundreds of them, nay, I believe thousands,
+are now peaceful cultivators of the soil, which, these good fathers
+have taught them how to till, instead of living, as they formerly did,
+at warfare with mankind, and solely on the produce of the chase.
+
+How these differences of race and language have arisen, it is probably
+impossible now to discover, at least I have never heard any one of
+the many theories on the subject, for they are nothing more than
+speculations, which could sustain all the requirements necessary to
+account for their existence in their present state.
+
+In the character of the native Indians there are very many good points,
+although they have long had a bad name, from their characters and
+descriptions coming from the Spanish mouths, who are too indolent
+to investigate it beyond their households, or at the most beyond
+their city walls; as very few, indeed, of all the Spaniards I met
+with have ever been in the country any distance from Manilla, except
+those whose duty it has been to proceed to a distance, as an alcalde
+of the province, or as an officer of the troops scattered through
+the islands,--very many of whom remain at home in the residency or
+in their quarters, smoking or drinking chocolate, and bewailing their
+hard fates, which have condemned them to live so far away from Manilla,
+from the theatre, and from society. They come and go without knowing,
+or caring to know, anything about the people around them, except when
+a feast-day comes, when they are always ready enough to visit their
+houses, dance with the beauties, and consume their suppers.
+
+The most noticeable traits in the Philippine Indians appear to be
+their hospitality, good-nature, and _bonhommie_ which very many
+of them have. Their tempers are quick; but, like all of that sort,
+after effervescing, soon subside into quiet again.
+
+Very frequently have I been invited to enter their houses in the
+country, when loitering about during the heat of the sun, under
+the protection of an immense and thick sombrero which prevented me
+suffering much from the exposure; and on going into one of them,
+after the host or hostess had accommodated me with a seat on the
+_banco_ of bamboo, a cigarillo, or the _buyo_, which is universally
+chewed by them, and composed of the betel nut and lime spread over an
+envelope of leaf, such as nearly all Asiatics use, has been offered
+by the handsome, though swarthy, hands of the hostess or of a grown-up
+daughter: or, if their rice was cooking at the time, often have I been
+invited to share it, and have sometimes so made a most excellent and
+hearty meal, using the natural aid of the fingers in place of a spoon,
+or other of the customary aids for eating. After eating they always
+wash their hands and mouths, so cleanly are their habits.
+
+So long as any white man behaves properly towards them, and treats
+them as human beings should be treated, their character will evince
+many good points; but should they be beaten or abused without a
+cause, or for something that they do not understand, as they but too
+frequently are when composing the crews of ships, the masters of which
+are seldom able to speak to them in their own language or in Spanish:
+who can blame them if the knife is drawn from its sheath, and their
+own arm avenges the maltreatment of some brutal shipmaster or his
+mates for the wrong they have suffered at their hands? In all I have
+seen or had to do with them they have never appeared as aggressors,
+and it has only been when the white men, despising their dark skins,
+have ventured on unjustifiable conduct, that I have heard of their
+hands being raised to revenge it.
+
+When they know that they are in the wrong, however, should the
+harshest measures be used towards them, I have never known or heard
+of their having had recourse to the knife, and I have frequently seen
+them suffer very severe bodily chastisement for very slight causes
+of offence.
+
+They are easily kept in order by gentleness, but have spirit enough to
+resent ill-treatment if undeserved. Not long ago an instance of the
+kind happened to a person who has the character of being a violent
+and irascible man. He one day fell into a passion about something
+or other, and fastened his ill-nature and passion on an inoffensive
+servant who chanced to be near him at the time, and ended some abuse
+by ordering the man to go into a room, where he followed him, and after
+locking the door and putting the key into his pocket, took up a riding
+switch and began to flog the servant, who bore it for a while, until,
+losing his temper completely, he seized his master by the throat,
+and, taking the whip from him, administered with it quite as much
+castigation as he had himself received.
+
+Their general character is that of a good-natured and merry people,
+strongly disposed to enjoy the present, and caring little for the
+future.
+
+So far as regards personal strength and mental activity or power,
+they are much superior to any of the Javanese or Malays I have seen
+in Java, or at Batavia and Singapore. But, to our modes of thinking,
+the greatest defect in their character is their indolence and dislike
+to any bodily exertion, which are the effects of the sun under which
+they live; but their native maxims and their habits, although we
+may disapprove of them now-a-days, when everything goes by steam,
+might be dignified by a great poet's verse into the truest and best
+philosophy; for does he not sing,--
+
+
+            Otium bello furiosa Thrace,
+            Otium Medi pharetra decori
+            Grosphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nec auro.
+
+            Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum
+            Splendat in mensa tenui salinum;
+            Nec leves somnos timor aut Cupido
+                     Sordidus aufert.
+
+            Laetus in praesens animus, quod ultra est
+            Oderit curare, et amara lento
+            Temperet risu, &c.----Hor. II. xvi.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+At Manilla a labourer's pay is a quarter of a dollar a-day, or a little
+more than a shilling, which is enough to keep him supplied with food
+of as good quality and quantity as he needs to eat for about two or
+three days, so that if a labourer or coolie, who has only himself to
+support, work two days out of the seven, he has enough to supply all
+his necessities, and can enjoy what is to him a high degree of pleasure
+and amusement,--the training of a cock for the cockpit, sleeping
+a long siesta, gossiping with his neighbour, and chewing _buyos_,
+or smoking cigarillos, quite at his ease, during the rest of the time.
+
+They have all a strong dislike to settling down to any employment
+demanding the exercise of much bodily exertion, even when it is well
+remunerated; and the consequence is, that the extreme difficulty of
+procuring labour forms the greatest drawback there is to a planter
+settling in the Philippines, and not unfrequently causes the one or two
+people who have now got plantations there on a small scale, to suffer
+the utmost inconvenience in the management of their estates; and this
+operates to so great an extent, as virtually to prevent any one but a
+very bold and speculative man investing money in sugar plantations,
+or otherwise locking it up in agriculture. Government has long been
+sensible of this, and the present Captain-General has issued an order,
+containing a permission for persons engaging in plantations to import
+Chinese labourers, to whom, if actually engaged in tilling the soil,
+are conceded certain privileges which they have not hitherto enjoyed,
+being subject to less tribute than what is paid by the rest of their
+countrymen who are engaged in other avocations.
+
+This decree had been lying ready for years in the desks of the
+Government officials, no Governor till recently having had the courage
+to publish an order so greatly in advance of their general policy. As
+it is, this is one of the greatest steps they have ever taken in
+the right direction; and I trust it may be attended with the best
+effects, although some of the restrictions on the China labourers
+may tell against it; and I fear that the large outlay necessary to
+import labour from China, while they have a supply, although it is
+a very uncertain one, at their doors, without incurring the expense
+and risk of doing so, may hinder the success of the scheme.
+
+There are very few people in the colony who are possessed of the
+capital necessary to start a plantation on a large scale. And the
+existing laws prevent or check foreigners doing so, unless they
+get married to a Spanish or native woman, which, from their general
+character, few British would like to do; or by abjuring their religion,
+and getting naturalized, which is a measure equally or more repugnant
+to the human breast, unless self-interest is the beacon which directs
+the path, or is the motive for doing so.
+
+However, should plantations on a large scale ever be carried on
+in these islands with an equal degree of facility, science, care,
+and attention, and with the improved machinery now employed in sugar
+estates in Jamaica and elsewhere, there can be little doubt that the
+productions of the islands will be greatly increased, and it will do
+good so far; but whether it would tend to improve the condition, or
+increase the comforts of the people, now so independent of care for
+a livelihood, appears to be more than doubtful; in other respects,
+it would do them good, by stimulating their energies.
+
+At present there are no large plantations on the islands, although
+two or three of small size exist, none of which are understood to be
+sufficiently remunerating to offer any inducement to invest money in
+a similar manner.
+
+At Jalajala, M. Vidie, an hospitable old Frenchman, has an estate;
+but I understand that the most unceasing efforts, and the greatest
+economy, care, and attention, have been necessary to make it answer,
+both on his part and on that of its former owner, an Anglo-American,
+and a person of great ingenuity, who got so much disgusted with the
+incessant battle he had to fight with the soil, and those who tilled
+it, that after overcoming the greatest difficulties, he sold the
+estate, and was glad to be quit of it.
+
+The whole of the productions of the islands are raised by the poor
+Indian cultivators, each from his own small patch of land, which they
+till with very simple, though efficient implements of agriculture.
+
+With the existing high prices of labour, there is, however, probably
+nearly as much surplus produce available for exportation as there
+would be for years to come, under the system of large plantations and
+dear labour. Because the present occupiers of the land--employing
+no hired labour, but only directing the industry of the farmer and
+that of his family, to the small patch on which they were born, and,
+of course, have some affection for--are certain to expend far more
+labour on their own land, and to bring it to a much higher degree of
+cultivation, than it would suit the purpose of a large planter to do;
+who, like the Australian or Canadian colonist, would probably find it
+most for his interest to cultivate a large surface of land imperfectly,
+as under high wages of labour, and comparatively cheap land, it would
+be likely to yield him a better return than if he cultivated only a
+small surface of ground highly.
+
+For this seems to be the only policy, where the elements to be combined
+are dear labour and cheap land; just as when they are dear land and
+cheap labour, the contrary would be the case, as it is in Britain.
+
+Now, when I call a quarter of a dollar per diem a high rate of labour,
+I may be misunderstood if it is not stated that this rate, when paid
+to the slow and careless Indian labourer, is fully equivalent to
+three times that sum to a white or British labourer working at home;
+as an able-bodied man at home would do about three times as much work,
+and would perform it in a highly superior manner.
+
+These reasons make me loath to see the present system of small holdings
+changed, which would sever old and respectable ties, and would force
+the present independent Indian cottage-farmer to seek employment from
+the extensive cultivator, and, without getting more work out of him
+in the course of a year, would lower him in self-respect, and in the
+many virtues which that teaches, without deriving any correspondent
+advantage to society.
+
+In a tropical climate the elements of society are varied, and
+quite different from those of a country with a climate like that of
+Great Britain. A native Indian, under a tropical sun, could scarcely
+support a system of really _hard_ labour for six days of the week for
+any length of time; and their indolent habits are, in some degree,
+necessary to their existence, perhaps as much as his night's rest
+is to the British labourer; for without days of relaxation to supply
+the stamina which they have lost during exposure to the sun and hard
+labour under it, it is my decided opinion that the men so exposed,
+and exhausted, would, after a very few years, knock themselves up,
+and become unfit to work, thereby rendering themselves an unproductive
+class, and burdens on their friends and on society.
+
+The present cultivators, who show a high degree of intelligence
+in many of their operations, in cultivating their staple, rice,
+for example, actually expend more labour on their land, and work
+much more constantly than any hirelings would do; as at Jalajala,
+out of upwards of a hundred labourers in the village who had no other
+employment or source of revenue but their labour, not above a third
+of the able-bodied men mustered in the fields when the labours of
+the day began in the morning; and I understood from the owner of the
+estate, that under no circumstances could he prevail on the whole
+body of labourers to muster, nor, so long as their rice lasts, will
+they work; it is only when that fails, and they will starve if they
+do not exert themselves, that they will undergo hard labour in the
+fields under the broiling sun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+Very few of the native Indians or Mestizos are possessed of much
+wealth, according to British ideas of the term, although there are some
+of the latter class who are considered among themselves as very well
+off, if their savings amount to from five to twenty thousand dollars;
+and when they reach fifty thousand dollars, they are looked upon as
+rich capitalists.
+
+In Manilla, there are one or two of these Mestizo traders whose
+fortunes amount to more than this; but such occurances are rare,
+and are seldom heard of. Many of these amounts have been collected
+together by their possessors by their engaging in a sort of usurious
+money-lending or banking business with the poverty-struck cultivators
+of the soil, by advancing seed to many of them for their paddy fields,
+and making the hard condition of exacting in return about one half
+of the produce of the ensuing crop. But perhaps these money-lenders
+are, to a certain extent, necessary to supply the wants of an
+improvident and careless race, these habits being besetting sins of
+the Indian character; yet there can be little doubt that the money
+acquired by such a usurious repayment of the sums advanced, does
+an immense deal of harm, and lessens the natural independence of
+the Indians who are so unfortunate as to fall into the clutches of
+the money-lender. Should a poor Indian, the possessor of a patch of
+paddy-land capable of producing very little more than is required to
+feed his family, once run short of seed, he has a very hard battle to
+fight with the soil before he is able to get that debt cleared off,
+should his neighbours be too poor to assist him, as he must then have
+recourse to the usurer. For although, through his greater efforts and
+improved cultivation, he may produce much more paddy than his land
+had done before, yet he is seldom able to save enough for seed from
+the moiety of the produce which his appetite restricted to live upon,
+as the other half must go to repay the usurer who advanced him seed,
+or money to purchase it.
+
+I have seldom heard of Europeans engaging in this business, for which
+their nature and habits are much less suitable than those Mestizo
+capitalists who devote themselves to the traffic.
+
+These debts are frequently contracted by the Indians in emulating the
+splendour of some richer neighbour on their patron saint's feast-day,
+when, in proportion to their means, an immense deal of extravagant
+expenditure usually takes place; but, with the exception of the
+cockpit, all their other expenses are very slight and thrifty.
+
+Their houses are mostly composed of attap, or nipa grass, on a bamboo
+framework fixed on and supported by several strong wooden posts,
+generally the trunks of trees, sunk deep enough in the ground to
+render them capable of resisting the violent gales of wind common
+over all the islands during particular months of the year. In the
+villages some of the richer natives have wooden houses--that is to
+say, the framework of the part of the house dwelt in is of wood,
+being generally supported by a stone wall which composes the bodega,
+&c., underneath.
+
+Their furniture is generally made from the bamboo, and from this most
+useful plant several of their household utensils are also formed;
+all these are of the simplest description, but amply sufficient to
+supply their wants.
+
+A crucifix, and the portraits of several saints, are universally
+found attached to the walls, and before these they are at all seasons
+accustomed devoutly to repeat their morning and evening orisons--all
+the family kneeling while the mother recites the prayer.
+
+At nearly all houses in the country a large mortar scooped out of the
+trunk of some tree is found, being the instrument employed to free
+their paddy from the husk, and convert it into rice. This operation
+appears to rank among those household duties which fall to the wife's
+share to perform. The pestle is sometimes of considerable weight;
+and when it is so, is worked by two women at once.
+
+In their field operations the buffalo is the only animal employed,
+and is probably the only one domesticated possessing the requisite
+strength to perform the work, as the country oxen and horses are much
+too small; and although more active, are too weak to drag the plough
+through the flooded paddy fields in which they would get entangled and
+sink, sometimes to their middles; but through land in this state the
+bulky buffalo delights to wade, and, although slowly, creeps along,
+and forces himself through.
+
+In the towns the buffalo is still employed in carts and light work,
+for which it is not so well suited as the active-paced horses or oxen
+of the country would be, and they no doubt will in time be adopted
+for these purposes.
+
+In the country the horses are only used for the saddle, and for
+conveying small packages of goods from one country shopkeeper to
+another, as the roads they have to traverse are such as to preclude
+any use of conveyances upon wheels.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+Throughout the islands there is a part of every village set apart for
+the market-place, where in the early morning, and after sunset in the
+evening, the utmost activity in buying and selling prevails. At all of
+these places rice, fish, and butcher meat (generally, but not always),
+fruit, and merchandise of the most suitable sorts to supply the wants
+of the people who are likely to purchase it, are exposed for sale. It
+is a curious scene to walk through such a place for the first time,
+especially after sunset, when the red glare of the torches or lamps
+shows to perfection the sparkling eyes, swarthy features, and long
+hair, which, waving about over the foreheads of the men, gives them a
+wildness of look, which their sombre dress, consisting of a dark blue
+shirt and trousers, having nothing to attract the attention from the
+sparkle of their eyes, makes all the more striking.
+
+In Santa Cruz market-place at Manilla, between the hours of six and
+eight in the morning and evening, an immense crowd collect to supply
+their household wants, and innumerable are the articles displayed
+in the shops;--here the cochineal of Java, there the sago of Borneo,
+or the earthenware of China. In the Bamboo Islands the more perishable
+commodities are exposed for sale; and fish being the principal article
+of the natives' food (and also a favourite one of the white men),
+is found exposed for sale in large quantities. But all so offered
+is dead, even when the vendor is a Chinaman, although in his native
+country great quantities of it are hawked about the streets by the
+sellers carrying them alive, in water, so that the purchaser is
+certain always to have this food fresh and untainted by keeping;
+for even a few hours is sufficient to spoil it in this climate.
+
+The market is well supplied with all descriptions of fish caught in
+the Pasig or the bay, most of which are well tasted; the fishermen of
+the villages in the neighbourhood being the principal suppliers. A
+small sort is found in the river very much resembling white-bait in
+taste. Shrimps are also consumed in large quantities. After the rains
+there may generally be procured, by those who like them, frogs, which
+are taken from the ditch round the walls in great numbers, and are
+then fat, and in good condition for eating, making a very favourite
+curry of some of the Europeans, their flesh being very tender.
+
+The natives principally eat fish, but there is besides a large quantity
+of beef and pork consumed by them, which are always procurable,
+except on Fridays, when some little difficulty may be experienced in
+procuring flesh, as there is only enough killed on the morning of
+that day to supply the wants of the invalids. The country-fed pork
+is seldom or never seen at the tables of Europeans, these animals
+being too frequently allowed to feed in a most disgusting manner;
+and many pigs may at any time be seen in the suburbs of the town
+where the Indians dwell roaming about the streets, and efficiently
+performing the duties of scavengers, by removing the filth and garbage
+from many of these remote streets.
+
+But notwithstanding their knowing, and in fact daily seeing, this
+gross and disgusting mode of feeding, it is the most universal and
+favourite food of the Chinese at Manilla, and is also a favourite
+with the Indians.
+
+The continued use of pork so fed not unfrequently produces a skin
+disease called sarnas, something resembling itch.
+
+Fowls, turkeys, and ducks, both tame and wild, are at all times
+procurable, the supplies of the latter being from the Laguna. Geese
+are seldom or never exposed for sale, but are sometimes sent from
+China to private persons merely for their own consumption.
+
+It is a curious thing that geese will not produce eggs, or sit upon
+them to hatch their young, at Manilla; and it is also a sufficiently
+odd circumstance, that turkeys die in a short time after reaching
+Singapore, where they are sometimes sent to private individuals for
+domestic use, although they thrive very well both in the Philippines
+and in Java. At Singapore, however, after being a few days ashore,
+some of them are attacked by a peculiar sickness, apparently giddiness
+of the head, which invariably ends in death in a few minutes after
+the commencement of the attack. All these birds are subject to it at
+that place, if allowed to go about too long before being seized upon
+by the cook.
+
+The principal food of the Indians being rice, it is found exposed for
+sale, in large and small quantities, in the bazaars, where nearly all
+the kinds of fruits of the season may also be found. The catalogue
+of fruits grown in the islands is a long one, but among those most
+commonly seen may be reckoned plantains of all kinds, of which
+there are an immense variety; mangoes, which are remarkably good,
+and superior to any species grown in the East, excepting those of
+Bombay, to which they are equal; the custard-apple, the pine-apple,
+seldom equal to those of Batavia or Singapore; limes, and oranges,
+not very good, and greatly inferior to those of China, from whence
+some are imported by the trading Spanish vessels constantly running
+between the two places; melons of different kinds, of middling quality;
+cucumbers, pumpkins, jackfruit, lanzones, and many other sorts.
+
+The best gardens, or those from which Manilla is chiefly supplied with
+fruit, are in the vicinity of Cavite, from which place the country
+people bring it every morning, the carriers being generally young
+women, who, from the steadiness requisite to balance the fruit-baskets
+on their heads, acquire a good walk, somewhat at the expense of their
+necks, however.
+
+The most common sorts of vegetables exposed for sale appear to be the
+sweet potatoes, yams, and lettuce; and green pea-pods are sometimes
+to be had, but the latter are seldom good.
+
+The temperature induces such a rapid vegetation as to injure their
+taste, as it prevents their ripening, for, after attaining a certain
+growth, the sun dries up the pod in a very few days, to prevent which
+they are pulled very early, when the pea is so small and delicate,
+being barely formed, that the cooks usually serve up both pods and
+peas together at table, after having minced them into small pieces
+with a knife, being unable to separate them properly.
+
+The common potatoe is imported from China, and from the Australian
+colonies. Those from Van Diemen's Land are the best; the sorts received
+from China are usually watery and small, being greatly inferior to
+those sent up from Australia.
+
+In the fair monsoon, the Chinamen sometimes get supplies of apples,
+pears, cabbage, &c., from Shanghai, and these are considered as
+great delicacies.
+
+There are many other fruits and vegetables procurable at Manilla,
+but those mentioned are the sorts usually met with.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+The population of the islands is very uncertain, for although the
+Government makes the census _apparently_ with some exactness, a very
+little knowledge of the country is sufficient to show that they do not
+do so in reality, but that this resembles all their other statistical
+information, and cannot be depended upon, although it is useful in
+leading to an approximation.
+
+Their data are made up from the revenue derived from a capitation
+tax, which is so much per head for all grown up persons; but as it
+is the interest of all who may be called upon to pay it to keep out
+of the way during the period of its collection, many of them do so
+without much difficulty, more especially in the remote districts,
+where their facilities for concealment are much greater than in the
+neighbourhood of Manilla, or of the provincial capitals, where the
+alcaldes reside; so that those actually liable to it are very much
+greater than the payers of the tax. I estimate the population at a
+little under five million souls, the great bulk of whom are engaged
+in agricultural pursuits.
+
+Great numbers of people are also employed as fishermen, artizans
+of all sorts, and as manufacturers of cloth fabrics of various
+descriptions. In addition to the people so gaining a livelihood
+by their industry, there are scattered throughout the islands many
+Indians, without any occupation, and apparently altogether dependent
+on the fruit of the plaintain-tree for subsistence, and indulging
+all their natural laziness and indolence of disposition by its aid,
+preferring to subsist on the fruit of this most productive plant,
+which they can do, from its being always procurable and at all times
+of the year in season, without an effort towards its cultivation,
+to undertaking the labour and attention necessary to grow rice.
+
+Some of these people are hunters, occasionally going out to the
+wilds in pursuit of game, which must alternate beneficially with
+their vegetable diet.
+
+As an article of food, however, the plantain does not appear to be so
+nutritive or strength-supporting as rice; at least, those persons who
+are principally dependent on it for food appear less robust looking
+than the rice-fed population. This, however, may not be entirely owing
+to that cause, but may be attributable in some degree to their lazy
+habits, which, by preventing them taking much exercise or bodily
+exertion, renders the muscles of their bodies less developed than
+those of the other Indians whose harder work keeps their frames in
+a proper state of health.
+
+In person, the native Indians are a good deal slighter and shorter
+than Europeans, but are, on the average, taller and stouter than the
+Malays, many of them having that broad make of shoulders and lustiness
+of limb which indicate personal strength.
+
+Their countenances are in general open and pleasing, and would
+be handsome, but for their smallness of nose, which is the worst
+feature in the native physiognomy; however, when that feature is
+well shaped, as it frequently is, their faces are decidedly handsome
+and good-looking.
+
+These remarks apply to both sexes; a number of the women are very
+beautiful, for although their skin is dusky, the ruddiness of their
+blood shows through it on the cheek, producing a very beautiful
+colour, and their dark, lustrous eyes are in general more lit up with
+intelligence and vivacity of expression, than those of any Indians
+I have seen elsewhere.
+
+A very pleasant trait, to my taste, is the nearly universal frankness
+and candid look that nature has stamped upon their features, which,
+when accompanied by the softness of manner common to all Asiatics,
+is particularly gratifying in the fairer part of creation.
+
+Their figures are well shaped, being perfectly straight and graceful,
+and nearly all of them have the small foot and hand, which may be
+regarded as a symbol of unmixed blood when very small and well shaped;
+as although the Mestizas gain from their European progenitor a greater
+fairness of skin, they generally retain the marks of it in their
+larger bones, and their hands and feet are seldom so well shaped as
+those of the pure-bred Indian, even although the Spaniards are noted
+for possessing these points in equal or greater perfection than the
+people of other European countries.
+
+The bath is a great luxury among the natives, and of all country-born
+people, who appear to be fully as fond of the water as ducks are,
+and never look so well pleased as when they are paddling about in it,
+for nearly all the women can swim.
+
+It used to be a very favourite sport to make up a bathing party of
+ladies, who, dressed in their long gowns, bathed with their male
+friends equipped in parjamas, or in short bathing trousers, without
+hesitation, swimming about in a retired part of the river for a long
+time, generally stopping at least an hour in the water, on leaving
+which, and dressing, all reunited to breakfast, or amuse themselves
+in some way, with dancing or music. These parties, however, are now
+seldom heard of, as the late arrivals from Spain have been so many as
+to be able to take the lead, and give a tone to the society of Manilla,
+and are now in the midst of revolutionizing the old habits and customs
+of the place, certainly not at all for the better, as they have yet
+to learn that what is suitable in Europe is not so in the tropics.
+
+Fondness for gay dress is universal, and the _ninas_ take considerable
+pains to understand the subject, and to adorn their natural good looks
+to the most advantage by the selection of the most appropriate colours.
+
+Their hair is one of the most remarkable beauties in the native and
+Mestiza women, being very much longer, and of a finer gloss, than
+that of any Europeans.
+
+The staple and most favourite food of the people is rice seasoned
+by sun-dried or salted fish, if they should be unable to procure
+it fresh, which is, however, seldom the case, as the rivers in the
+country abound with many different sorts, and all of them appear to
+be very good and well tasted.
+
+And not only do the rivers abound with fish, but great numbers of
+_dalag_ are found in the flooded paddy fields during and subsequent
+to the rainy season, when they are soaked with water. How this fish,
+which is not very good to eat, being tasteless and insipid, comes
+there, is a curious problem, as it is often killed in paddy grounds at
+a great distance from any stream, out of which it could come during
+an overflow. I am not quite certain whether this fish is ever killed
+in a stream or not, or whether it is only found in the paddy fields.
+
+I do not recollect of its once being caught in a river, although
+the natives kill the fish in the ditches and paddy fields in large
+quantities, either by shooting them with shot, as they flounder in
+the fields, or by pursuing and capturing them, and knocking them down
+with a stick.
+
+In fact, I suspect the _dalag_ to be an intermediary between the
+reptile and the fish, although not naturalist enough to investigate
+the subject in a proper manner.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+Many of my readers may chance to be aware that the whole group of
+Philippine islands was mortgaged to Great Britain for payment of the
+ransom agreed upon at the time of our conquest of them nearly a century
+ago; and as up till this time neither the money nor the interest on
+it has been obtainable, as it probably never will be, they are, at
+this, or any other time, virtually our property, should the British
+Government foreclose the mortgage and demand payment. This, even at
+present, when the kingdom is groaning under extreme pressure for the
+necessary funds annually squeezed out of it, would not be thought a
+prudent course, even by the ultra-economical politicians who are so
+lavish of displaying their crude projects of retrenchment on neatly
+ruled-off paper.
+
+There is no doubt, however, that the cash is never likely to be
+forthcoming from the Spaniards, and, under these circumstances, it
+surely would be worth the attention of Her Majesty's Government, more
+especially as they profess free-trade ideas, to make this state of
+things the basis of a request, or even of a _claim_, on the Spanish
+Government, for obtaining some liberal concessions in favour of
+their countrymen, and the rest of the world, carrying on commercial
+intercourse with the Philippines, which is now limited to Manilla;
+all foreigners being prohibited from engaging in the country trade,
+or from owning property in lands, houses, or ships in the Philippines.
+
+Of course, the Spaniards themselves suffer for the illiberality
+of this policy, as there can be no doubt that, were it more free,
+and less burdened with restrictions of all sorts than it now is,
+it would be attended with the best effects to their own treasury,
+as well as be for the general welfare of the islands.
+
+This is what they cannot yet comprehend; but it would not be difficult
+to make them understand it, if the employe who undertook the task
+understood it himself, and possessed knowledge enough of the character
+of the people he had to deal with. Any request, if made in a proper
+tone, by our Government, would draw attention to the subject at Madrid,
+and some good might be done, even were it only of partial advantage,
+as for many years to come they are not likely to step boldly out into
+the subject.
+
+At Zamboanga, opposite Zooloo, there already exists a custom-house
+and other government offices for the regulation of their own trade
+with these islands. But no foreigners are allowed to reside at
+Zamboanga. Surely the permission for them to do so is worthy the
+attention of a government which has established and is supporting,
+at considerable expense, the colony of Labuan for the object not
+only of extending our trade and the use of the products of our
+manufacturing population, but also with the more generous and noble
+idea of civilizing the people in its neighbourhood by their influence,
+and of teaching them the blessings that flow from industry and peace.
+
+The appointment of Sir James Brooke as Governor of Labuan was in every
+respect a wise proceeding, as it affords a philanthropist a very wide
+field on which to exert his influence. Unfortunately, however, for him,
+a number of well-informed people, residing in the neighbourhood of the
+spot where his philanthropic exertions are said to have taken place,
+deny their having had any existence; but, on the contrary, accuse
+that gentleman, through the columns of a Singapore newspaper, of the
+worst motives and conduct: in short, he is accused in that newspaper
+of murdering innocent natives in great numbers by falsely representing
+them to be pirates, to serve his own purposes and gratify his Sarawak
+subjects' dislike of them; the naval officers, whose services had
+been placed at his disposal to put down piracy, being misled by him.
+
+I am not sufficiently acquainted with all the facts of the case to
+say with what truth this accusation is made, although, I believe,
+so grave a charge has never been contradicted by him, or by his
+friends authorized to do so in his name, and to state the true facts
+of the case to the public. But, as far as Labuan is concerned, those
+people who are best qualified to judge appear to be of opinion that,
+although it should have a fair trial for some years longer, it will
+never become a place of much commercial importance.
+
+There is little doubt that were foreigners allowed to settle at
+Zamboango, where Zooloo, Mindanao, and the entire southern coasts
+of the Philippines would be open to their enterprise, it would be
+productive of the most beneficial effects, not merely to our merchants
+and manufacturers, but to the cause of civilization throughout all
+these barbarous countries, and would probably be found much more
+effective in putting an end to the existing state of piracy and
+kidnapping, which are now carried on to some extent, than any warlike
+means which have hitherto been employed to suppress them.
+
+There are many other objects of a commercial nature worth
+the consideration of an enlightened government, such as the
+disproportionate protective duties in favour of their national
+shipping and the produce of Spain; and some degree of toleration to
+the religious opinions of foreigners residing at Manilla might also
+be obtained; so far, at least, as to permit their having a piece
+of consecrated ground for burying their dead, if no more should be
+granted; at present they are not permitted to place the remains of
+a Protestant within the limits of consecrated ground; but have to
+bury them in a field where Chinamen, who retained their country's
+faith till the end of their lives, are laid, and where swine are
+continually going about routing up the soil, at the imminent hazard
+of disturbing recently interred bodies.
+
+Liberty for foreigners to settle in the country for the purposes of
+trade or agriculture, and to hold property, might be obtained without
+much difficulty, were it properly explained, and shown that their
+doing so would benefit the Spaniards as much as themselves.
+
+Under the existing laws their inability to hold property prevents
+those foreigners who, after passing many years in the country, have
+become as it were almost native, and where they have contracted ties
+and formed connexions which few men would like to break, from settling
+down in it for the remainder of their lives. As they have no means of
+investing their gains with security, though they have probably reached
+an age when the cares of business press heavily on relaxed energies,
+and they are disposed to sit down quietly, and enjoy themselves in
+the country where they are naturalized in every thing but in the eye
+of the law--all the interest which good citizens, holding pecuniary
+investments, naturally take in the well-being of the country, is
+withdrawn from them. No wonder, then, that they are careless about the
+domestic improvement of the Philippines, or of their progress in those
+arts which fill the treasuries of rulers, and make subjects happy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+The laws do not appear to be bad in themselves, but the dilatoriness
+with which they are administered has the effect of rendering them as
+baneful to those living under them as if they were radically bad;
+the delays and accidents inseparable from the mode of conducting
+legal business are very vexatious, and frequently from its cost it
+is quite inefficient for its purposes of justice. However, Spain and
+its colonies are not singular in that respect, as there is one great
+and flourishing country which I could name, where the same defects
+exist, although, thank God, in a less degree than they do either
+in the colony of Spain, or in that country itself; so the less said
+about the mote in our brother's eye, the better for those who have
+at this moment a beam in the organ of their own judicial executive.
+
+In conducting a _pleito_ at Manilla, all is done by writing; first,
+the charge is made out and filed; then comes an answer to the charge;
+then a counter-answer is put in, and that again is replied to; and
+so on they go for any length of time, determined by the weight of
+the purses of the respective contending parties, till, if no more
+is to be said, or if one or both of them gets tired of the expense,
+and the case is decided, the other, if he be a rich man, can refer the
+whole affair to Spain, where the same pleadings have to be again gone
+through, and all the vexation and expense re-incurred, besides that the
+decision of the case may with a little management be protracted for any
+indefinite length of time. This is not worse than what happens at home,
+and is similar to some of our Scotch cases in former times, when for a
+century or more one case would be agitated to gratify family dislike
+or prejudice. That no one may think I exaggerate, it may be as well
+to mention a case which is still undecided at this moment, and which
+originated about 1731, between the lairds of Kilantringan and Miltonise
+in Galloway, although near kinsmen, namesakes, and neighbours.
+
+There are few things more dreaded by the Spaniards themselves than
+a lawsuit with one another. Many of them, however, are glad of the
+chance it gives them to be revenged on people with whom they are not
+upon good terms. So vile is the whole law and practice relating to
+the testamentary disposal of property, and to such lengths have the
+abuses in this particular branch of it gone, that it has become a
+proverb among Spaniards to say that a wise man would prefer being
+a trustee on an estate, to being heir to it; and several people at
+Manilla are well known to be living on their gains from executorships,
+&c., having no other means of support. These persons, although their
+incomes are almost universally known to be so derived, are not in
+the least shunned as dishonest people, but are looked upon as being
+perfectly entitled to feather their own nests in place of performing
+their duty, as we should understand it to be in Britain.
+
+The police laws and regulations are also badly administered, being
+very shameful to the Government which permits things to go on under the
+same loose system as before. Were there a more numerous and efficient
+police force scattered over the country, none of the Spaniards would be
+afraid, as many of them now actually are, to live out of town, or to
+make distant excursions to the country, from fear of the _tulisanes_,
+or robber-bands, which are scattered about in various places, and are
+found pursuing their avocations in the neighbourhood of the capital,
+although not so boldly as they did a few years since. These robbers
+plunder the country in bands perfectly organized, and bodies of them
+are generally existing within a few miles of Manilla,--the wilds and
+forests of the Laguna being favourite haunts, as well as the shores of
+the Bay of Manilla, from which they can come by night, without leaving
+a trace of the direction they have taken, in bodies of ten and twenty
+men at a time, in a large banca. They have apparently some friends
+in Manilla, who plan out their enterprises, send them intelligence,
+and direct their attacks; so that every now and then they are heard
+of as having gutted some rich native or Mestizo's house in the suburbs
+of Manilla, after which they generally manage to get away clear before
+the alguacils come up.
+
+The houses of Europeans are also occasionally attacked, although much
+less boldly within the last year or two; yet it is the custom for
+people to retire to bed, even in the heart of the town without the
+walls, with pistols, a sword, or some other weapon within reach. That
+these people do immense damage there is no doubt, as they not only
+plunder the country people of buffaloes and horses, but rifle their
+houses, if no better prey is to be had, to such an extent, that
+the natives are afraid to live at any distance from each other in
+many parts of the country, solely through fear of them. From this
+cause, patches of fine paddy land in out-of-the-way districts are
+left uncultivated, or are hurriedly ploughed and sown by adventurous
+persons, who after doing so retire into the nearest village to live,
+till the time comes to reap as much of the paddy as the deer and
+numerous wild pigs have left untouched.
+
+The punishments of these bad characters are severe enough when justice
+chances to get hold of them; and, should their crimes be atrocious,
+they occasionally suffer death. Sometimes they are _garroted_, which
+is done in this way. After being seated at the place of execution,
+with the back towards a high post of wood, the culprit's neck is
+encircled by an iron collar attached to the post, and capable of
+compression by a powerful screw passing through the post, which, on
+the signal being made, the executioner turns, and the victim is choked
+in a second. The practice is much less disgusting than hanging, as
+no effects are visible to an on-looker beyond the convulsive movement
+of a frame loaded with heavy irons to prevent a severe and disgusting
+struggle with departing life.
+
+A good many of the _tulisanes_ are soldiers who, after committing some
+peccadillo, feared its discovery and punishment, and flying to the
+wilds have joined or organised a troop from among the bad characters
+in the neighbourhood of their hiding-place.
+
+These executions are not unfrequent at Manilla. One morning, when
+riding near the usual place of execution on the sea-beach, I saw six
+deserters, who had composed a band of atrocious robbers, suffer death
+from the muskets of their former comrades; those who were not killed
+at once, having an end put to their existence by the pistols of a
+serjeant, who stepped close up to them before discharging the piece.
+
+Truly it was a sad sight to see their former comrades degraded into
+executioners. The number of women who had collected to witness the
+last act of this tragedy was very great, very much outnumbering the
+men present. But they were principally composed of the most worthless
+class of females; yet on many of them the example appeared to make
+a considerable impression.
+
+I have no doubt, whatever the present popular mawkish
+sentimental-mongers may write to the contrary, that these exhibitions,
+when happening rarely, tend, in a great measure, to restrain the
+passions of the evil-disposed, although some of them may think it
+bold, among their hardened associates, to turn the spectacle into a
+farce. I firmly believe that no human being can in cold blood look upon
+another's death by violent means without being forced to think about
+it for some time, greater or less, according to his or her temperament.
+
+For minor offences criminals are sometimes flogged through the
+town. They are mounted on horseback, with their legs manacled or
+bound under the horse's belly, and a portion of their punishment is
+administered at several of the most public places in the town, by
+an executioner dressed in red, and with a veil over his face. Thus,
+supposing a thief sentenced to receive a hundred lashes or blows,
+they would most probably be administered by twenty at a time, in five
+different places throughout the capital, proclamation being made at
+each place, previous to the punishment, of the offence and of the name
+of the offender, who is dressed in the ordinary mode, with a shirt and
+pair of trousers, and exposed to the full view of the attending crowd.
+
+Confinement in the jail at night, with labour in irons on the public
+roads during the day, is also a usual punishment; criminals being
+generally linked in pairs by a chain round the leg of each, and
+taken out, under a guard, to work on the streets or roads at Manilla,
+Cavite, or Zamboanga, at sunrise, and led back to jail at sunset. But
+as they are not forced by the soldiers to work much harder than they
+like, they take care not to injure themselves by overtasking their
+powers of labour, and are not apparently much discontented with their
+condition, from which I have seldom or never heard of their attempting
+to escape, although neither their food nor their lodgings in jail
+are very enticing; the former being bad black-looking rice and water,
+and the jail generally swarming with vermin.
+
+They appear to prefer the partial liberty of getting out of jail, and
+of working in the streets in chains, to the monotony of a residence
+within the walls of the prison, and the sedentary labour they might
+be forced to pursue there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+Among the amusements of the Indians the greatest is cock-fighting,
+for which they have a passion; and nearly every native throughout
+the islands gratifies this taste by keeping a fighting cock, which
+may be seen carried about with him perched on an arm or a shoulder,
+in all the pride of a favourite of its master.
+
+During Sundays and feast-days, when no work is allowed to be done,
+nearly the half of the native population, if able to muster a few
+rials, repair to the village cockpit, to arrange some match for their
+favorite fowl, on which they will sometimes stake large amounts,
+or to see the sport of their neighbours.
+
+The privilege of opening a cockpit is an important source of revenue
+to the Government, which farms it out to the highest bidder, who, I
+believe, has the power to stop fighting for money at any place within
+the limits of his district other than the privileged arena, for an
+admission to which he exacts a small charge from each person, which is
+the mode of reimbursing himself for the amount paid to the Government.
+
+This place is generally a large house, constructed of _cana_, wattled
+like a coarse basket, and surrounded by a high paling of the same
+description, which forms a sort of court-yard, where the cocks are
+kept waiting their turns to come upon the stage, should their owners
+have succeeded in arranging a satisfactory match. Passing across
+the yard, the door of the house, within which the matches come off,
+stands open: after entering and ascending the steps, the arena is
+before us, surrounded by seats sloping down from the wall towards it,
+so that every one may be able distinctly to witness the event.
+
+After the owners of the contending cocks have walked into the ring
+and displayed them, each armed with a long and sharp steel spur, many
+critical opinions are expressed by the Indians; and the judgments
+of the old men, who are keen upon the sport, are worth hearing by
+a visitor.
+
+The spectators having viewed the birds carefully, the bets are
+made, by calling one of the men who are constantly walking round
+the outside of the arena, for the purpose of arranging the amounts
+of bets ventured on either of the birds. Giving him the money with
+which you back your opinion, he generally quickly finds, or may at
+the moment hold in his hand, the money ventured by some one else on
+the other cock, and apprises you of the arrangement. But should your
+cock chance to be a favourite, and the broker be unable to arrange an
+equal bet against the other, he tells you so before the set-to begins,
+and returns your money if you are not disposed to give odds.
+
+In general the conflict does not last long: in from about two to
+five minutes after the set-to, one or other of the birds is pretty
+sure to be either killed, or so badly wounded by the steel spur as
+to show he has had enough of it, and to give in. Until this happens,
+the utmost quietness is maintained by the people, and their intense
+interest is only shown by their outstretched necks and eager looks,
+as well as by their muttered exclamations at the various stages of the
+fight; at the end of which, of course, the gainers are noisy, and in
+high spirits at pocketing the money, which is heard clinking all round.
+
+The amount of money staked on the issue is never very large; at least,
+I have not seen more than eighty or a hundred dollars staked in any
+cockpit, and the usual bet is an ounce of gold, or nearly four pounds.
+
+Chance, in a great measure, appears to decide the event; as an early
+blow with the sharp spur is quite sufficient to cripple the bird which
+receives it so much as to determine the fate of the battle. Quickness
+and game no doubt tell to some extent, but not very much. Of course,
+the breeding of cocks engages a good deal of attention by those
+interested in the amusement; but with the details of it I am not
+acquainted.
+
+Many of the Indians, however, appear to be more fond of a good cock,
+and to display more anxiety about it, than would be shown by them
+to their wives and children, who are not objects of nearly so much
+attention.
+
+Although extravagantly fond of all games of chance, none of them
+appears to be so captivating as the cockpit, which ranks as their chief
+passion. Of games at cards, the principal one is _monte_, the playing
+of which is sometimes carried on to a great extent, which has caused
+such distress that the law has wisely endeavoured to stop the evil,
+by enacting severe fines and punishment against those caught playing
+at it. Houses suspected of carrying it on, are at all times subject
+to a visit from the alguacils, all the people found in them being
+carried off to jail.
+
+But notwithstanding these measures, it is found impossible to put
+gambling down entirely, and some of the alcaldes, knowing the inutility
+of attempting to do so, habitually give private instructions to their
+policemen not to hunt for people playing _monte_, and not to molest
+them if found doing so. Tresilla, tresiete, &c., are names of other
+games at cards commonly played at Manilla.
+
+Billiards is also a favourite game of the Indians, whose play differs
+in some particulars from ours, and from the usual Spanish game, which
+is also dissimilar to ours. Tables are scattered throughout the town,
+entirely for the use of the native population, some of whom show
+considerable dexterity.
+
+Although bull-baiting used many years since to be an amusement here,
+it is never heard of now, having quite gone out of fashion. Neither
+are the bull-fights, as managed in Spain, practised here, probably
+from the effects of the climate on the men, who would not much relish
+a combat with one of the small, but spirited and powerfully shaped
+bulls of the country.
+
+The considerable number of officers of the troops, and other government
+_empleados_, are acquisitions to the society of the place; for being
+principally half occupied people, they are almost obliged to have
+recourse to amusements to kill the time, which would otherwise hang
+very heavy on their hands; and principally to their exertions must
+we attribute the means of enjoyment, such as they are, which are now
+available here.
+
+There is a subscription ball-room, where assemblies are held three
+times a-month; at one of which there is only dancing; at another,
+performances by the amateurs of vocal and instrumental music. Some
+of them, having a taste that way, do wonders for amateurs; and after
+the concert, there is dancing.
+
+At the third monthly assembly, there is a farce or play of some sort
+acted by amateurs; and as the Spanish genius inclines to the buskin
+and the sock, they acquit themselves very well.
+
+To this _sociedad de recreo_, or casino, there are many subscribers,
+including the Governor and his family, if he has any, and all the
+considerable people of the place, who for many years kept out those
+of lower caste than themselves by the ballot, which is the mode of
+electing candidates, who must be introduced by two members. However,
+at last the funds of the society got so low, that the admission
+of many new members was requisite to bolster up the concern with
+their entrance-money and monthly contributions, and, of course, a
+much more indiscriminate set were admitted, than formerly used to go
+there, which caused one or two people to absent themselves from the
+assemblies for some time, as no one, of course, chooses to introduce
+his daughters among people he does not wish to associate with. On
+the whole, however, the place has benefited by the new people; that
+is to say, it is more gay than before they came, which is the chief
+consideration to one careless of the precise social degree of any
+handsome and pleasant girl whom he may meet at the place.
+
+All the ladies sit together; and the men, who dare not, apparently,
+trust themselves so close to their brilliant and beautiful eyes,
+as we fancy we can do with impunity in Britain, promenade up and
+down the ball-room, or in one of the large ante-rooms contiguous to
+it. No doubt their tindery and inflammable temperaments, whenever
+love-making is concerned, has something to do with this arrangement;
+as, if a young male acquaintance of any damsel took a seat beside her,
+it would be certain to attract the papa or chaperon, to the spot, to
+see what was going on, as their most likely subject of conversation
+would have a strong leaning towards a flirtation, or downright
+love-making, at which nearly all the Spaniards are great adepts;
+the flowery expressions of their language being peculiarly suitable
+for such sentimental recreations.
+
+Besides the principal theatre, where Spaniards are the actors,
+there are two native theatres, where plays are represented in the
+Tagalog language, and written to suit their ideas of the drama; the
+subjects represented being principally tragedies connected with their
+historical traditions, and of their fathers' earliest connections
+with their European conquerors.
+
+But their mode of representing these subjects is scarcely suitable
+to any one's taste but their own, as the amount of vociferation,
+and drawling singing of the women who take a part in the pieces,
+are very disagreeable, and the noise and quantity of fighting with
+which they are always interlarded, is tiresome. Yet, strange to say,
+they themselves are much interested while listening to these absurd
+recitatives.
+
+The Spanish theatre is generally opened twice a-week, and one or two
+of the performers act very creditably. The national passion is for
+dramatic amusements; and the house, which is a large one, is usually
+well filled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+A misconception appears to exist as to the state of society at Manilla,
+people at a distance for the most part labouring under the erroneous
+impression that it remains stationary, and is today as much behind
+the rest of the world as it was thirty years ago; and that it can
+support no newspaper or other publication. Now, during my residence
+at Manilla, there have been various periodicals published daily,
+bi-weekly, and weekly; but at the end of last year (1850), these had
+all given place to one daily newspaper, called the _Diario de Manilla_,
+which being more carefully conducted than any of its predecessors,
+still continues to enjoy its popularity.
+
+It is under the direction of an editor, who being in his youth trained
+up to commercial pursuits, and having spent some years of his life in
+Great Britain in order to conduct the business of his Spanish friends,
+has insensibly acquired ideas during his residence there which are,
+no doubt, more exact and unprejudiced than those of the bulk of his
+countrymen, so that he understands the duties of a journalist, and
+manages his paper better than these things were formerly done. Of
+course, however, he must study not to trespass on the existing
+regulations of the censor, if he would avoid the scissors of that
+officer, whose duties are, to prevent any statement obnoxious to the
+powers that be from seeing the light. This, of course, is a great check
+to the spread of information, especially of a political character;
+and articles written and printed, have frequently to be suppressed
+in the succeeding impressions of the paper. The power is sometimes
+exercised when there is very little occasion for the interference of
+authority, and, of course, must very materially interfere with the
+mode of conducting an efficient newspaper.
+
+To give the censor time to examine its contents, the _Diario_ is
+printed the afternoon preceding its publication, and is issued every
+day except Monday, thus leaving the printers free from work and at
+liberty on Sunday.
+
+The _Diario_ has a large circulation in Manilla and the different
+provinces of the islands, besides having agents at Madrid, Cadiz,
+and Paris; it is also obtainable in the Havana, at Hongkong, and
+at Singapore.
+
+The subscription is one dollar a month, which is moderate enough;
+and advertisements are inserted in its columns without charge.
+
+Once a week it includes a list of the shipping in the harbour, and
+also of the arrivals and departures, and reports every morning the
+arrivals and cargoes of any vessels that have come in on the previous
+day from the provinces. It also publishes a weekly price-current of
+the produce of the country.
+
+A well-conducted periodical of this nature is of great importance in a
+commercial point of view, not only from the advertisements circulated
+by its means throughout the Philippines, but from the variety of
+facts and information which the country alcaldes address to the
+Manilla Government, in which they are required to give a list of the
+prices-current for the various articles of produce grown in their
+different provinces; a regulation which, of course, tends to keep
+the trade on a sound footing, and to prevent reckless speculation,
+which the want of market information usually induces.
+
+The _Diario_ is delivered at the houses of Manilla subscribers at about
+daylight every morning, so that they may make themselves masters of
+its contents while sipping their chocolate, before engaging in the
+business of the day. This is no slight luxury, I assure the reader,
+and it is not at all diminished by the place being so remote from
+the sound of Bow-bells and the region of Cockaigne, although it is
+true that the contents of the paper are not composed of exciting
+parliamentary reports, or of leading articles equal in talent to
+those of the _Times_ or _Morning Chronicle_.
+
+The mail bags are carried to the provinces by mounted couriers, and
+the north post, arriving at Manilla every Friday morning, brings
+communications from the important provinces of Bulacan, Bataan,
+Zambales, Pampanga, Nueva Eciga, Pangasinan, Ilocos (North and South),
+Abra, and Cagayan; and is despatched from the capital to all these
+districts every Monday at noon.
+
+The south post, embracing the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, Mindoro,
+the islands of Masbate and Ticao, Camarines (North and South), Albay,
+Samars, and Leyte, reaches Manilla every Tuesday morning, and is
+despatched from it in return every Wednesday at noon. To the arsenal of
+Cavite there is a daily post, excepting on Sundays; and to the islands
+of Visayas, the Marianas, and Batanes, the correspondence is forwarded
+by the first ships bound for any of those places, as they are obliged
+to give notice to the postmaster two days before starting for them.
+
+It would be difficult to over-estimate the advantages of this line
+of postal communication, which affords the native traders in remote
+places the best facilities for the prosecution of their trade in the
+various articles of commerce produced in the districts where they live.
+
+There are, of course, several things which might be improved in the
+administration of the post-office, as is the case in every country,
+without bringing Spain and her colonies in question; but, no doubt,
+these will be found out by-and-by, and an alteration for the better
+will take place.
+
+The press of Manilla is much more active than is commonly supposed,
+as, besides the _Diario_, there are several other periodicals printed
+in the place. Among them may be mentioned the _Guia de Forasteros_,
+and an _Almanac_, which is printed at the College of Santo Tomas,
+being entirely got up and sold by the priests of that institution,
+the proceeds being devoted to charitable purposes.
+
+Various religious and polemical works also emanate at different
+times from the press, all of them neatly and well printed, nay,
+highly creditable to the Indian compositors who execute them.
+
+I have frequently seen it stated in books, the authors of which should
+have been better informed, that no periodical publications exist at
+Manilla. Certainly there is much less appetite there for such things,
+than is exhibited among my own countrymen, whose birthright it is to
+grumble at the conduct of authorities, and to show up delinquencies
+with the most unsparing zeal, neither of which would be quite safe
+to attempt at Manilla, although it is so in Great Britain, and all
+her colonies and dependencies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+Through ignorance and a misconception of the nature of the country,
+many people are in the habit of adducing the scantiness of manufactures
+among the Indians, as an evidence of their backwardness in civilization
+and the arts which it teaches.
+
+But this is not so in reality, for if our readers reflect on the
+subject a short time, it can scarcely fail to occur to them, that
+the fertility of the soil, and the abundance of primary materials,
+even of those made use of in the manufactories, is the true reason
+why they neglect manufactures, and turn all their attention to growing
+the raw produce, from which spring the materials for conducting them.
+
+It is this cause which makes the Americans send their cotton-wool to
+Manchester, to be there, at some thousands of miles from the place
+of its growth, made into cloth--and the shepherds of Australia to
+send their wool to Yorkshire for a like purpose.
+
+This appears paradoxical, but it is true. A day's labour on a fertile
+tropical soil is better recompensed when it is directed to grow cotton,
+than it would be, were the same labour applied to weaving the wool
+into cloth; for although this climate is suitable for the growth of
+cotton in the fields, it does not at all follow that it is so for
+weaving cloth, as has been proved to be the case in the United States.
+
+In that country, where manufacturing industry has so much energy
+of character in those carrying it on to back it up, and to secure a
+satisfactory result, it appears very strange that we should be able
+to beat them in the manufacture of their own produce.
+
+But although many efforts have repeatedly been made by speculative
+and sanguine men to weave all the descriptions of cotton cloth made
+in Great Britain by the power-loom, they have never been able to
+do so in the United States. Even when they have actually carried
+machinery and men from Manchester to work it, across the Atlantic,
+the produce of the looms has been of a different quality of cloth
+to that which the same cotton yarn would have produced by the same
+machinery in Great Britain. This can only be accounted for, I believe,
+by estimating the effects of climate. The moisture of the atmosphere,
+the difference of water, and other causes, have been assigned as
+the cause of this very remarkable circumstance, and perhaps some,
+or all of them, have their share in producing it.
+
+In the Philippines, the natural shrewdness of the people, who show
+considerable aptitude in the arts which experience has taught them
+will pay them best, is demonstrated by the neatness of execution
+which characterises many of their handiworks, demanding no small
+portion of skill, care, and perseverance; the elaborate execution
+of the gold ornaments worn by the women frequently exhibiting signs,
+in a very high degree, of skilful and neat workmanship.
+
+I have seen chains, &c., of native make, quite as beautifully and as
+curiously worked as any I have seen in China, where those ornaments
+are made in more perfection than the European gold or silversmiths
+have as yet been able to attain.
+
+But probably the pina cloth manufactured in the Philippines, is the
+best known of all the native productions, and it is a very notable
+instance of their advance in the manufacturing arts.
+
+There is perhaps no more curious, beautiful, and delicate specimen of
+manufactures produced in any country. It varies in price according to
+texture and quality, ladies' dresses of it costing as low as twenty
+dollars for a bastard sort of cloth, and as high as fifteen hundred
+dollars for a finely-worked dress. The common coarse sort used by the
+natives for making shirts costs them from four to ten dollars a shirt.
+
+The colour of the coarser sorts is not, however, good; and the high
+price of the finer descriptions prevents its becoming generally a
+lady's dress; and the inferior sorts are not much prized, chiefly
+because of the yellowish tinge of the white cloth. The fabric is
+exceedingly strong, and, I have been informed, rather improves in
+colour after every successive washing.
+
+Pina handkerchiefs and scarfs are in very general use by the Manilla
+ladies, although they are rather expensive; the price of the former,
+when of good quality, being from about five to ten pounds sterling
+each, while for a scarf of average quality and colour about thirty
+pounds is paid. The coarser descriptions can be had for much less
+money than the sums mentioned; and the finest qualities would cost
+from three to four times more than the amounts I have set down.
+
+Besides the pina there is also a sort of cloth made by the natives
+called juse (pronounced huse), or siriamaio, which makes very beautiful
+dresses for ladies. It is manufactured from a thread obtained from
+the fibres of a particular sort of plantain tree, which is slightly
+mixed with pine-apple thread; and the fabric produced from both of
+these is very beautiful, being fine and transparent, and looking,
+to the unaccustomed eye, finer than the ordinary sort of pina cloth.
+
+It can be made of any pattern, and is generally striped or checked
+with coloured threads of silk mingled with the other two descriptions.
+
+The manufacture of both these articles is carried on to a small extent
+in the immediate neighbourhood of Manilla; but in the provinces of
+Yloylo and Camarines the best juse is produced, the price of which is
+very much lower than pina, as a lady's dress of it may be got at from
+seven to twenty dollars; and for the latter amount a very handsome
+one would be obtained.
+
+In addition to these manufactures, which the natives have appropriated
+and made their own, from the greater facilities found in the
+Philippines than in other places less adapted by nature for their
+prosecution, the Government has been at some pains to force them
+to engage in the manufacture of cotton yarn and cloth by imposing
+high duties on those descriptions of foreign manufactured goods
+most suitable for the native dress, either from their partiality to
+particular colours, or from other causes.
+
+And for this reason solely a number of kambayas of blue and white
+checks are made in the country by the native hand-loom, these colours
+being in general favourite ones of the Indians; the custom-house
+duty on such goods, and on other favourite colours, being 15 and 25
+per cent., according to the flag of the vessel importing them; the
+Spaniards guarding their own shipping, and securing to it a monopoly
+of the carrying trade by that difference of the import duty. Should
+these goods come from Madras, which is their native country, the duty
+charged on them is 20 and even 30 per cent.
+
+Although these rates of duty may be considered high enough, they
+are in reality very much more than that per-centage, because the
+duty is charged by the authorities on a very high fixed valuation,
+or on the _ad valorem_ principle, which actually is equivalent to
+increasing the rates of duty, were that only charged upon the actual
+market price. Since the beginning of this year (1851), however,
+I understand some changes have been made in the tariff by altering
+the valuations of goods.
+
+Kambayas are used as sayas, or outer petticoats, by the native or
+Mestiza girls, and are generally made of cotton cloth, although,
+of late, juse and silk sayas appear to be more generally worn than
+they used to be.
+
+Tapiz of silk and cotton is also manufactured in the country. This
+piece of dress is used as a sort of shawl, and is wrapped tightly
+round the loins and waist, above the saya, being generally a black
+or dark blue ground, with narrow white stripes upon it, which, when
+the garment is worn, encircles the body.
+
+The great advantage which the natives have over foreign manufacturers
+of these coloured cloths consists not so much in the duty, although
+that is an immense protection, as in the quickness with which they
+are able to meet the changes of taste in the patterns and designs
+of such fancy goods. For it is evident that before designs of new
+styles can reach Great Britain, and the goods be manufactured there,
+and shipped off to Manilla, many months must elapse, during which the
+native manufacturers have been supplying the market with these new and
+approved styles of goods, and of course reaping all the advantages of
+an active demand, exceeding the supply, by the high prices obtainable
+for the new designs. For the market of Manilla varies as much, and
+the tastes of the people are as inconstant and capricious with regard
+to their dress, as the natives of almost any country can be.
+
+It will scarcely be believed, that in this remote quarter of Asia,
+many of the natives of the country are as much _petits maitres_ in
+their own way, as a gallant of the Tuileries or of St. James's. It
+would astonish most people to see some of these poor-looking Indians,
+or Mestizos, wearing a jewel of the value of four or five hundred
+dollars in the breast of their shirts, or in a ring on their fingers.
+
+No doubt some of them prefer keeping their money in this way, as it is
+easily transportable, and is always about their persons, to leaving
+their dollars or gold ounces concealed somewhere about their houses,
+from which they may frequently be obliged to be absent. Though, as
+it is a common custom for the natives to have a piece of bamboo in
+which to deposit their ready-money, and as there is so much bamboo
+work about the house, of course it is not very difficult for them
+to select one piece, which from its being out of the way, and rather
+unapproachable, renders it a secure deposit for their hoards.
+
+Towels, napkins, and table-cloths, are also manufactured by them, from
+the cotton of the country, and Governor Enrile taught some of their
+weavers how to make canvas from cotton. It is now very extensively
+used by the native shipping, and bears the name of the distinguished
+and philanthropic individual who taught them how to make it, being
+known by the name of _Lona de Enrile_, which name may it long bear,
+and remain as the most honourable memento any governor could leave
+behind him, of his beneficent and wise interest in the affairs and
+administration of an important colony.
+
+At several places in Luzon, and in Cebu, &c., the natives make
+a species of cloth from the plantain-tree, known by the names of
+_Medrinaque_ and _Guiara_ cloths. The former description is in the
+greatest consumption, being stouter and more valuable than the other
+sort, and is mostly all bought up by the natives themselves, although
+a small portion of it is also exported.
+
+The bulk of all the _Medrinaque_ exported goes to the United States,
+to the extent of about 30,000 pieces annually; and sometimes as much
+as double that quantity is sent, although last year there were only
+about 23,000 pieces purchased for that market, a large quantity having
+gone to Europe, which is a novel feature of the trade in the article.
+
+Although the silkworm is bred to some small extent in the country,
+the silk manufacture is not extensively carried on, as the market can
+so easily and quickly be supplied from China with any description of
+goods in demand. Some articles of dress are, however, successfully
+made by the Indians, to oppose the China silks in the market, such
+as tapiz for the women, and panjamas for the men.
+
+In various parts of the country, the manufacture of earthenware is
+pursued to a small extent. It is generally of a very coarse description
+for cooking purposes, water-jugs, &c., and does not interfere with
+the sale of the finer China ware, with which the natives are supplied
+for most of their household purposes by the Chinese dealers in the
+article, that of China make being very much finer than any they have
+as yet produced in the country.
+
+In the colours and patterns of their dresses the natives are great
+dandies; the women, as usual, being more particular in those affairs
+than the men. Very seldom, indeed, does a native Indian or Mestiza
+beauty sport the same saya for two gala days consecutively. And a
+very large proportion of their earnings are spent in self-adornment,
+their _tanpipes_, or wardrobes, being very well supplied with clothes,
+all of them of different patterns. Blue and purple appear to be the
+colours most admired, because, although the tastes and caprices of the
+people may vary in an infinite degree as to the patterns or styles of
+their dresses, they do not differ much in their choice of the colours
+which compose them. A dark complexioned beauty is never improved
+by a yellow dress; and any woman at all old or ugly looks hideous
+indeed when dressed in that colour. Apparently the Government were
+not ignorant of this when they imposed a heavy duty on blue, purple,
+or white articles of dress, and allowed yellow and other colours
+disliked by the natives to come into the country on the payment of a
+less duty. They have even gone the length of allowing yellow cotton
+twist of foreign manufacture to be imported duty free.
+
+Truly this was very cunning of them--this apparent liberality to
+a foreign nation, ignorant that the colour would scarcely ever be
+used. Its affected moderation would most certainly tend to stop any
+complaints which might be made about the high duties imposed on our
+manufactures imported into the colony.
+
+But perhaps the authorities had some design on the native beauties,
+when they held out such an inducement for them to wear unbecoming
+dresses. Who can say if the official who drew the scheme up had not
+a wife, jealous of the influence of some dark Indian beauty, to whom
+she thus held out the inducement of cheap dress, to disarm the power
+of her charms! Or, it may be, as the priests are at the bottom of
+most things in Spain, who can tell but their influence was exerted
+to get this law passed in the pious hope of inducing those feelings
+of self-abasement and humility which the sense of being ugly, or even
+plain-looking, generally induces among the fair?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+Besides those already mentioned, there are several other branches of
+manufacture successfully pursued in different places throughout the
+country, although none of them are very extensive.
+
+Among others, that of hat-making may be mentioned. It is practised
+principally at a village called Balignat, in the province of Bulacan;
+and is also carried on to a smaller extent in Pangasinan, Camarines,
+and Yloylo.
+
+The hats are made from the cane, the fibres of which, employed in
+their construction, very much resemble the materials of those made at
+Leghorn, of straw. They are made both black and white, and are used
+almost universally by the native population, at times when the heat
+of the sun does not require the _salacod_ as a protection to the
+head. These are made of cane also, but are much thicker, heavier,
+and wider, and are shaped like a flat cone, so that the rays of the
+sunbeams are deflected from it, in place of being concentrated on
+the brain, as they are by the shape of the European hat.
+
+A large number of Balignat hats are exported to the Australian
+colonies, and to China and Singapore, as well as a few to the United
+States.
+
+Cigar cases, or covers, are made to a small extent in the neighbourhood
+of Manilla, and most of the patterns used for them are pretty,
+gay-looking affairs. The fineness of these pouches or cases varies
+to an almost infinite extent, and so does the price they sell at.
+
+The mats on which the natives all sleep are largely manufactured, and
+employ a great number of people, as everybody throughout the island
+uses one or more of them. Some of those made in Laguna province are
+finer and better finished than any others I have seen elsewhere. They
+are plain or coloured, and of all patterns, and could be manufactured
+to any degree of fineness, according to the price promised to the
+workmen.
+
+Ropemaking is extensively carried on; the best cordage manufactured
+in the islands being made from the fibres of the plantain-tree,
+which is known in commerce by the name of Manilla hemp.
+
+At Santa Mesa, in the neighbourhood of Manilla, the rope is spun up
+by the aid of steam and good machinery, established there for the
+purpose, and still carried on by an old shipmaster, who produces by
+far the best rope of all that is made. It is also manufactured in
+several other places by the common hand-spun process, but from being
+unequally twisted when made by the hand, it is very much inferior to
+what has been subjected in its manufacture to the uniform steadiness
+of pull which the regularity of the steam machinery occasions, all of
+which is consequently much more suited to stand a heavy strain, from
+being twisted by it. The price of this rope is altogether dependent
+on the price of hemp, as the value of the labour employed seldom
+or never varies, although the raw material of which it is composed
+constantly does; the usual addition made to the current price of hemp
+being four dollars a pecul of 140 lbs. English, for the machine-made
+rope, generally known as "Keating's patent cordage," supposing the
+material so spun to be converted into an assorted lot of from one to
+six-inch cordage.
+
+The hemp employed in the manufacture of the patent cordage is generally
+selected for its length of fibre, and lightness or whiteness of
+colour; and when whale-lines are made, only the very finest lots of
+hemp procurable at the time are used; but the charge for spinning
+them is increased to six dollars a pecul, the extra labour being
+so considerable, that even with the additional charge, the maker,
+Mr. Keating, informed me that he was much better recompensed by the
+larger sizes of the rope he spun than by these.
+
+Bale or wool lashing is also made to a small extent for shipment to
+Sydney, &c.; the quality of the hemp used in making it being of an
+inferior description, and of a brownish colour. As it is very much
+more loosely twisted than any other descriptions of rope made here,
+the charge for spinning it is reduced to two dollars per pecul, and
+the cost of it will be that amount added to the price of hemp at the
+time of its manufacture.
+
+The hand-spun rope never sells so well as that made by machinery,
+and is usually obtainable at from one to two dollars per pecul less
+than the latter, according as it is well or ill spun.
+
+The export of rope varies from about 9,000 to 15,000 peculs annually;
+by much the largest quantity usually going to the United States,
+although there are considerable shipments to the Australian colonies,
+China, Singapore, and Europe. A large quantity of it is also taken
+by vessels visiting the port, for their own use.
+
+The manufacture is encouraged by its freedom from any export duty,
+to which hemp exported in an unmanufactured state is subject, to the
+extent of 2 per cent.
+
+Besides this cordage, there is another sort of rope made at the Islan
+de Negros, from a dark-coloured plant,--a description of rush,--which
+is found growing there in abundance; and as it is not damaged by
+exposure to the influence of water, it is very extensively used by
+the native coasting-vessels of small size for cables, for which it
+is found to answer very well.
+
+Soap is made to a small extent at Quiapo, in Manilla; and is, I
+understand, shipped to Sooloo and Singapore for sale. But it is not
+consumed to any great extent in the Philippines, except for washing
+clothes, &c., the natives preferring to employ a red-coloured root,
+called _gogo_, for their own personal ablutions.
+
+This root may be said to be a sort of natural soap, as it serves the
+same purposes. After being steeped in water for a few minutes, if the
+water be violently agitated, or if the _gogo_ be rubbed between the
+hands in the water, a white foam is produced, which exactly resembles
+soap bubbles, and assists the purification of the skin even better
+than soap does, being assisted by the fibres of the root, which are
+usually made to do the duty of a flesh-brush in the bath. When using
+it, however, it should not be allowed to get into the eyes, as any
+water impregnated with its bubbles, will inflame them very severely.
+
+So far as I recollect, those that I have quoted are the most important
+articles manufactured in the country, and they are more numerous and
+important, considering the state of society in Manilla, than might be
+looked for. They well exemplify the ingenuity of the people, which is
+very much more lively than that of any other Oriental nation within
+the limits of the Indian Archipelago.
+
+Although cigars may be considered as manufacture, I propose classing
+them with tobacco, which will be found in the list of the agricultural
+produce of the islands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+The import trade of Manilla is almost entirely in the hands of the
+British merchants established there, so far as the great staple
+articles of manufactured goods are concerned; although a quantity
+is regularly furnished to supply the demands of the market by the
+Chinese, whose earthenware, iron cooking utensils, silks, cloths, and
+curiosities, are very plentiful at Manilla, and are indeed obtainable
+over all the country without much difficulty.
+
+Among the produce of our looms, especially those of Manchester and
+Glasgow, which are at all times saleable here, may be mentioned
+shirtings, both white and grey, long-cloths, domestics, drills,
+cambrics, jaconets, twills, white and printed, bobbinet, gimp lace,
+cotton velvet, sewing thread, cotton twist of certain colours,
+principally Turkey red, Turkey red cloth, prints of various sorts,
+chiefly Bengal stripes, furniture prints, and Turkey red chintz prints,
+kambayas, and ginghams, which being cheaper, are gradually taking
+the place of kambayas; indigo blue checks, imitation pina cloth,
+blue and striped chambrays, grandrills, trouser stuffs of various
+sorts, chiefly of cotton, and mixed cotton and wool; handkerchiefs
+of many descriptions, known as Kambaya handkerchiefs, Turkey red
+bandanas, fancy printed, light ground checked handkerchiefs, Scotch
+cambric handkerchiefs, &c.; broad-cloth, cubicoes, lastings, orleans,
+gambroons, long ells, camlets, carriage lace, both broad and narrow,
+canvas, cordage, iron, lead, spelter, steel, cutlery, ironmongery,
+earthenware, glassware, umbrellas and parasols of cotton and silk,
+&c., as well as India beer, which, though last mentioned, is not the
+common sort of beer, nor the least profitable or pleasant of them all.
+
+It may be well to mention here, that the provincial traders generally
+arrive at Manilla in the month of November, soon after the rains have
+ceased, although they sometimes do not make their appearance till
+December, when they set about making their purchases, and returning to
+their places of abode as quickly as possible, to sell the merchandize
+they take with them. If they are successful, and drive a prosperous
+trade, which is regulated by a variety of accidents, the principal
+features affecting it being probably the success of the rice crop,
+they then write to their agents in Manilla to continue purchases of the
+goods which they find to be of the most saleable descriptions in their
+different districts, so that it is not until they have ascertained the
+temper of the market, during the sale of their first lots, that their
+largest purchases begin to be made, through their agents at Manilla,
+who, from this circumstance, usually do their most extensive business
+during the months of February, March, and April; and, in consequence,
+these months may be considered as the best seasons of the year for
+the sale of piece goods in that market.
+
+The rainy season commencing in June, puts a stop to the activity
+of trade, which usually goes on until its near approach. For
+although there is a demand throughout the year for plain cottons,
+and similar articles of general use, the trade in coloured goods is
+almost suspended during the continuance of wet weather, and as the
+traffic in kambayas, ginghams, handkerchiefs and all other coloured
+and fancy goods, is by very much the most important description of
+trade carried on at Manilla, the commerce of the place languishes
+considerably during the continuance of the rainy season.
+
+The goods imported from the Peninsula are of very small value,
+consisting principally of wines, olive oil, and eatables of various
+descriptions; for wherever a Spaniard lives, he would be quite unhappy
+without his _garbanzos_ or _frijoles_.
+
+From Germany and France also various descriptions of manufactures are
+sent, such as cutlery, toys, glass, furniture, pictures, &c., &c., in
+fine, an endless catalogue of small wares of that description. Having
+never seen any complete statement of the quantity, value, or proper
+description of the merchandise imported into the Manilla market,
+on which I should be inclined to place any reliance, owing to the
+absolute impossibility of collecting correct statistical information
+of the sort at that place, I do not presume to furnish such to the
+reader, even with that explanation.
+
+The goods imported from Liverpool or Glasgow, from which very large
+quantities of coloured goods are sent here, are always shipped in
+Spanish vessels at a very high rate of freight, being generally
+about double what British ships would be glad to take them for, did
+not the differential duties in favour of the Spanish flag put all
+this carrying business beyond their reach. A very large--in fact,
+probably by much the greatest--quantity of goods, is in consequence
+of this navigation law, carried by British shipping from our seaports
+at home to Singapore and Hong Kong, where, after having to stand
+several charges for coolie hire, landing, storing, and warehouse rent,
+till such time as a disengaged Spanish vessel for Manilla makes her
+appearance, and the number of goods at either of these intermediate
+ports accumulates in sufficient quantity to form a cargo to load her,
+they have to remain of course at a considerable loss, not only of
+the interest of money locked up in them, but besides the new charges
+for freight, insurance, &c., which must be incurred upon them, when
+transhipped to the place of their destination.
+
+In order further to protect their own shipping against the competition
+of other countries, they hold out the inducement to merchants exporting
+manufactures to Manilla, to embark them in a Spanish ship in Europe,
+by making the duties less on the goods so imported, to those merely
+brought from a short distance from our settlements in the neighbourhood
+of Manilla. The following are the rates:--
+
+When coming in a Spanish vessel direct from Europe, they pay 7
+per cent.
+
+When coming from Singapore, their voyages to that place and back again,
+occupying about three months, including the time the vessel is in
+that port,--as although the monsoon is fair one way, it is certain
+to be opposed to the ship on the other, except just at the time of
+its turning,--goods from it pay 8 per cent.
+
+When coming from Hong Kong, to and from which place the monsoons are
+equally favourable at all times of the year, and the usual average
+voyage of Spanish ships is about ten days either going or coming,
+they pay 9 per cent.
+
+These regulations are hard enough on our shipowners, whose vessels,
+going over to Manilla to load cargo there for all parts of the world,
+seldom or never can procure any freight to that place; or if they do,
+it is only to a very insignificant amount, only consisting of something
+which the owner is in a hurry for, and is willing to pay the large
+differential duty upon, to get it quickly, which of course is a case
+of very rare occurrence. But to prevent the frequent occurrence of
+this, any foreign ship bringing no more than even one small package
+of inward cargo, is required to pay heavier port charges than she
+would do if coming in without it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+Besides the sale of foreign manufactures and merchandise in the
+Philippines, there exists a great outlet for it in the islands of
+Sooloo and Mindanao, although in the present state of society in
+those islands, where the insecurity of life and property is very
+great, the natural advantages of these countries have not been at all
+adequately developed. In front of Zamboanga, the last town towards
+the south which recognizes the authority of the Government of Manilla,
+is situated the island of Sooloo, which, although not of great size,
+is the centre of an active trade during certain months of every year,
+as great numbers of the natives of the neighbouring islands frequent
+it at those seasons, in order to dispose of the produce of their
+fisheries or to sell the slaves whom they have kidnapped or captured
+during their piratical cruizes and attacks on their neighbours, if
+at war with them, as some of them usually are with each other. From
+Manilla some small vessels are annually fitted out for the trade,
+which is nearly altogether in the hands of the Chinese dealers,
+as no persons except themselves would stand the bad treatment they
+are subjected to by the authorities of the place; the character of
+the Celestial people leading them to suffer any amount of bad usage
+provided they are paid for it, or can make money by it, which they
+somehow manage to do, even in Sooloo, although they are exposed to
+the almost unlimited plunder and extortion of the Sultan and Datos, or
+native chiefs, who, on the least occasion, or pretext for it, capture
+and enslave or confine them, only allowing these unfortunates to
+regain their very unstable liberty by presents or extortionate bribes.
+
+The vessels engaged in the trade, being brigs or schooners, commonly
+start from Manilla in March or April for Antique, Yloylo, or other
+places, where they can complete a Sooloo cargo, after doing which they
+steer for Zamboanga, to report their cargoes and provide themselves
+with passports at the custom-house there, should they not have done
+so at Manilla.
+
+It is, however, only within these few years that these facilities have
+been given to those engaged in the trade, as formerly the colonial
+ships were forbidden, under a heavy penalty, to touch at any place
+in the Philippines after clearing out for Sooloo from Manilla. In
+spite of this law, however, few of those engaged in the trade had
+virtue sufficient to obey it, and pass these places by, when it was
+so very much to their interest to complete their cargoes there, which
+they could not do elsewhere nearly so advantageously. And the only
+consequence of this absurd old prohibition against their doing so,
+was to involve many of them in long-pending and expensive lawsuits,
+which have often ruined prosperous men.
+
+Besides those _wise_ regulations, there existed some other forms
+equally sensible. For instance, the traders of Bisayao province, who
+send several small craft to Sooloo, which they are close to, were
+compelled to make a tedious voyage to Manilla against the monsoon,
+in order that they might report their cargo for Sooloo and get out
+passes, after which they had to return all the way back again, and
+at length were at liberty to steer for Sooloo.
+
+However, these foolish restrictions were at length put a stop to, and
+the trade encouraged, by the Government establishing a custom-house at
+Zamboanga, where there is at all times a considerable military force.
+
+The Sultan appears to be the most powerful nobleman in the country,
+rather than the sovereign monarch of it. For although the chiefs of
+the islands, or Datos, usually acquiesce in appearance to his will,
+they do so more from fear of his power at the moment than with any
+idea of his legitimate authority, and in effect they very seldom
+comply with his decrees.
+
+The entire people are slaves owned by the Sultan and these Datos,
+who exercise over the unfortunate wretches the worst species of
+tyrannical power; for as these nobles or _reguli_ are subject to
+no law but there own caprice, if any slave displeases his master,
+he can, without the slightest fear of having to give any account
+of the circumstance to a living soul, draw his kris, and murder the
+slave. Of course by so doing, however, he impoverishes himself, as he
+loses the market price of the day for a slave; or should he murder a
+slave belonging to some one else, a Dato is only expected to pay the
+amount he was considered worth by his master, or to give another one
+of his own in exchange for him.
+
+But, notwithstanding all the insecurity of life and property, the
+Chinese annually resort to Sooloo in pursuit of gain, and occasionally
+as many as eight small vessels are seen there at a time, during the
+busy seasons, for trade, just after the changes of the monsoon.
+
+Some of these Chinamen marry and remain in the country, although
+every now and then some of them are obliged to flee from it to
+the Philippines, where the Spanish flag protects them against their
+tyrannical and barbarous pillagers; for as there is no law to appeal to
+as a protection against the chiefs, they are quite at their mercy. The
+Datos themselves decide their quarrels and disputes with each other,
+by arming and assembling all their slaves and those of their friends
+who are willing to help them, and fight it out; but should their
+disputes run very high, or the feud last for any length of time,
+some powerful Dato, or the Sultan himself, interferes, and decides
+it finally by obliging both parties to keep the peace.
+
+The footing on which the trade is carried on with Sooloo is rather a
+strange one; although regulations have at various times been arranged
+between the Spanish government and that court, by which, although
+the Sultan has formally promised to give his guarantee that all goods
+sold by the traders from the Philippines to the Datos shall be paid
+for, yet there are very few of the traders at Manilla who consider
+the pledge of his Highness as of much importance, as it is usually
+only redeemed when his own particular interest requires it. He is,
+in truth, generally absolutely unable to make the nobles fulfil
+their contracts, they being as a body very much more powerful than
+he is. There being little or no money in Sooloo, the trade carried
+on by the Chinese supercargos of the ships frequenting the port is
+principally transacted by barter, they giving their manufactures
+for the produce of their fishery, &c., and for edible birds'-nests,
+tortoise-shell, beche de mer, mother-of-pearl shell, wax, gold-dust,
+pearls, &c.
+
+The profits of those engaged in this trade are very variable, for
+although their goods are all disposed of apparently at enormous prices,
+yet there are so many of them delivered to powerful chiefs, or to the
+Sultan, as presents, or sold to these dignitaries without the traders
+ever being able to get paid for them, that in reality the profit of
+the voyage may he scanty enough, although, were the guarantee of the
+prince to the Manilla government fulfilled, they might he very large
+if the prices at which they had been sold were actually paid to them.
+
+If the debts of the Datos are not paid off at once they are allowed to
+stand over for another year, at which distance of time they are very
+seldom recoverable, good memories being very seldom met with there.
+
+When the result of an adventure is good, the traders look upon these
+presents and bad debts as necessary expenses incurred to conciliate
+the authorities of the place, without whose good-will they would be
+quite unable to prosecute the trade, and in this sort of commerce the
+Chinese are adepts, although no Europeans could manage it, or would
+carry it on while upon such a footing.
+
+The ships most suited for the trade are small vessels, of about 200
+tons, and their cargoes consist of an infinite variety of goods, each
+lot being generally of small value. The invoices of a cargo usually
+cover many pages of paper, and it is no easy matter to make them up
+without the assistance of intelligent Chinese, who have themselves
+been engaged in the traffic, and are well acquainted with the place
+and the people to be dealt with.
+
+Some of the principal cotton manufactures sent to that market from
+Manilla consist of chintz prints, jaconets and mulls, white shirtings,
+cambrics, bandana, kambaya, and other descriptions of handkerchiefs;
+also, iron and hardware, glassware, coarse China earthenware, silk,
+cloths, copper work, &c.
+
+Ships are in the habit of touching at some port of the Philippines,
+generally the Island of Panay, there to load and fill up with
+rice, sugar, tobacco, oil, and several other articles in small
+quantities. Rice is generally taken from its being always in demand
+by the Sooloomen, whose habits and feelings little suit them for its
+production, even when the nature of the country admits of its being
+grown. The Chinese usually take down a large quantity of a kind of
+cloth made in their own country, which habit has substituted for money,
+a piece of it of the usual size being always reckoned as a dollar.
+
+The Sooloomen pay for their purchases in various articles, of which the
+edible birds'-nests are the most valuable. They are classified by the
+traders as of two sorts: white, and feathered; of which, the first sort
+is the most valuable, being generally worth about its weight in silver,
+or if very good, a little more; but should its colour tend to a red
+or darkish tinge, it is depreciated in value and is not worth so much.
+
+The feathered sort, called so because the edible substance, of which
+the Chinamen make soup, is covered by the birds' down and feathers,
+is very much lower in price than the white kind, being worth nearly
+two dollars a pound, or I believe it is generally roughly taken as
+being only about one-tenth part as valuable as the white.
+
+Tortoise-shell they collect and sell at very high prices, the bulk of
+it going over to supply the China market with that article, a small
+quantity only being annually sent to Europe.
+
+Beche de mer, or tripang, is a sort of fish or sea-slug, found on the
+coral reefs, &c., of the neighbourhood, which, when cured and dried,
+is generally shaped something like a cucumber.
+
+It is minced down into a sort of thick soup by the Chinese, who
+are extremely fond of it,--and indeed with some reason, as when well
+cooked by a Chinaman, who understands the culinary art, the tripang is
+a capital dish, and is rather a favourite among many of the Europeans
+at Manilla.
+
+There are thirty-three different varieties enumerated by the Chinese
+traders and others skilled in its classification; for being brought to
+Manilla in large quantities for that purpose, for the China market,
+it has become a peculiar business of itself by the dealers in it,
+and varies in price, according to quality, from fifteen to thirty
+dollars per pecul of 140 lbs. English.
+
+The slug, when dried, is an ugly looking, dirty brown-coloured
+substance, very hard and rigid until softened by water and a very
+lengthened process of cookery, after which it becomes soft and
+mucilaginous.
+
+Sometimes the slugs are found nearly two feet in length, but they are
+generally very much smaller, and perhaps about eight inches might be
+the usual size of those I have seen, their shape, as before mentioned,
+strongly resembling a cucumber. After being taken by the fisherman
+they are gutted, and then cured by exposure to the rays of the sun,
+after which they are smoked--over a fire, I believe--when the curing
+process is completed.
+
+Shark fins, and the muscles of deer, are also exposed for sale by
+the Sooloo people to their Chinese visitors, by whom they are eagerly
+purchased for their countrymen's cookery, both of these articles being
+very favourite delicacies. The first I have never tasted, although
+the flesh of a shark, if cut from some particular parts of his body,
+is far from being bad or unsavoury, if dressed by a China cook. As
+for the sinews of deer, they are very good, and occasionally met
+with at Manilla on the tables of Europeans who enjoy the reputation
+of having good palates.
+
+Mother-of-pearl shell is so well known in Europe, that it is quite
+unnecessary to remark upon it, more than that those coming from Sooloo
+are by much the finest and largest shells of any hitherto known in
+commerce, being superior to those coming from the Persian Gulf.
+
+Pearls are also brought from Sooloo, but they are seldom of any great
+size or value.
+
+Gold is brought to Manilla from the same place, both in dust and in
+small bars, but not in any great quantity.
+
+The ships engaged in this trade are generally absent about six months
+from Manilla, which they leave in March or April, and return to, after
+coasting about and disposing of all their cargoes, in September or
+October; no new voyages being undertaken by them until the following
+year.
+
+During June and July, the most active trade is said to be carried on,
+as the number of traders annually frequenting the island from those
+in the neighbourhood, is much greater than at other times.
+
+Besides the trade with Sooloo, a ship is absent nearly every year
+to Ternate, and other places of the Moluccas, where they usually
+manage to get their goods ashore, without paying the heavy duties
+which the Dutch have imposed upon them. The months of December or
+January being the usual time for starting for the Moluccas, these
+traders generally begin the busy season at Manilla by the purchase of
+grey shirtings and domestics, by adding which to goods very similar
+to those suited for Sooloo, they are enabled to have two strings to
+their bow, should the prices in the Moluccas be low; as they can,
+in that case, stand over to Sooloo in June, when they are usually
+able to dispose of their investments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+The insolence of the Sooloo men has at various times drawn down on
+them the wrath of the Spanish authorities, who, in 1848, and also
+shortly after I left Manilla, towards the end of 1850, were making
+arrangements for punishing them, as they afterwards did, with some
+severity, about the beginning of this year.
+
+The Datos, and their families, are like the old Danes, or Norsemen,
+born to be seamen; and the barbarous state of their native country
+preventing the establishment of a mercantile marine, their energies
+have marked out a scheme of warlike adventure on the sea, to succeed
+in which their natural quickness and duplicity of character eminently
+qualify them.
+
+A young Sooloo chief, whose ambitious or restless temper will not
+permit him to remain an idle man at home, where his passions for
+cruelty and voluptuous excess could scarcely fail to ruin him in
+a few years--surrounded as he is there by slavish dependents, and
+fearless of any higher power, whose authority might act as a check
+on his temper, or force him to control his passions--finds that the
+activity of his mind and body demand more scope for excitement than
+exists at home; and having a bias for the sea, he becomes a pirate
+chief, and scours the neighbouring waters in search of honour as well
+as gain. Under proper influences these men might be taught to divert
+their roving propensities into more peaceful channels. Fitting out
+large and fast-sailing proas, manned by their slaves, and officered
+by kinsmen, their warlike excursions take a wide range, and on some
+occasions their audacity has led them up even to the Bay of Manilla,
+landing on the shores of which, they have plundered the people,
+and carried off some of them to increase the number of their slaves,
+who constitute their principal wealth and power--daring to do this
+when so near as to be almost under the very walls of the capital,
+on which waves the banner of Castile.
+
+On the coasts of the provinces these predatory inroads were not
+uncommon, till General Claveria, in the beginning of 1848, determined
+to punish them severely, and to intimidate them so signally, as to
+prevent any repetition of these offences. Accordingly, having secretly
+fitted out an expedition from Manilla on the 13th February, 1848, the
+steamer on board of which the Governor himself was, anchored between
+the islands of Parol and Balanguinguy. Next day the transports arrived,
+and on that and the following day they reconnoitred the islands,
+and did all the damage they could, by way of reprisal, demolishing
+several piers, and destroying a large quantity of paddy which they
+discovered concealed in a cave in a retired place.
+
+At daybreak, on the 16th February, the troops were disembarked before
+Balanguinguy under cover of a fire from the ships, and after a little
+resistance from the Sooloo men--who were excessively frightened by
+the appearance of the steamers, whose facility of movement they were
+quite unprepared for--the fort, consisting of bamboo, was taken by
+escalade after a brave resistance. The attacking force, consisting
+of about 4000 men, behaved with great coolness and decision, when
+exposed to the enemy's fire and missiles of all sorts, such as arrows,
+javelins, &c. About eighty of the defenders of the place were slain,
+many of them with the desperate bravery--or ferocity if you will--of
+men who neither would give or accept of quarter, having first stabbed
+their wives, children, and useless old men and women. On seeing
+the success of the Spaniards, they formed themselves into a band,
+nearly all of whom perished on the points of the soldiers' bayonets,
+fighting bravely to the last; when the few survivors, seeing their
+companions dead and dying around them, with all the desperation of
+pirates, threw themselves from the walls, which were lofty, preferring
+certain death to the chance of falling into the hands of their enemies
+alive. Fourteen pieces of artillery were found within the place,
+which was destroyed, and preparations were made and acted upon for
+attacking the forts of Sipac and Sungap, both of which were successful.
+
+The Governor, General Claveria, gained at the time a good deal
+of reputation from his soldierly management of the forces at his
+disposal; and when the news reached Spain, he was created the _Conde_
+of Manilla, &c.
+
+On his return from this expedition, a great deal of absurd parade
+was, as is usual with the Spaniards, prepared to welcome him; and the
+General was forced to march under triumphal arches, &c., all of them
+bearing the most glowing inscriptions to the conqueror of the three
+bamboo forts from a race of barbarians, most of whom were unprovided
+with better arms than bows and arrows, spears, &c.; for although they
+had some small cannon, they could not make a proper use of them. Truly
+it was a pity to see the good deeds of the Balanguinguy expedition
+burlesqued by these ridiculous pageants.
+
+The lesson then taught the Sooloo chiefs did not, however, linger long
+in their memories; for their old habits of piracy, and kidnapping
+people for slaves, were resumed almost so soon as the Spaniards
+returned to Manilla.
+
+In 1850, Don Antonio de Urbistondo, Marques de la Solana, came out to
+Manilla as Governor of the Philippines. He was a man whose whole life
+had been passed in the camp, but his reputation had been gained during
+the civil wars in Spain, where he fought for legitimacy by the side of
+Don Carlos against the present queen. Nor did he give up the cause in
+which he had drawn his sword, until Don Carlos himself lost heart and
+forsook it, after which Don Antonio took advantage of the clemency of
+the queen, and swore allegiance to her as his sovereign. His talents
+as a soldier, although they had been displayed against herself,
+were rewarded by a marquisate, and afterwards by the government of
+the Philippines. A person of his character and military education was,
+of course, a most unlikely one tamely to permit an insult to be offered
+to the Spanish flag, or an outrage to be perpetrated in the Philippines
+by the Sooloomen; accordingly, when an instance occurred near the end
+of last year, prompt satisfaction was immediately demanded from the
+Sultan and Datos, who, as usual, accused some of their neighbours,
+with whom they were at variance at the time, of being the authors of
+it; and invited the Spaniards to seek reparation from them sword in
+hand. Accordingly an expedition was fitted out, and, with the Governor
+at its head, sailed for Sooloo in order to awe them, by the alacrity
+and force which the occasion at once called forth, and to establish
+a new treaty which would prevent the recurrence of such acts, and the
+necessity for such expeditions; and it was proposed to punish with no
+light hand those Tonquiles and others of the Samales whom the Sultan
+had accused as the perpetrators of the late aggression.
+
+However, on reaching the principal fort of the Sultan Mahomet Pulalon,
+he found that the Sooloomen would have no communication with him,
+and that they even threatened the envoys sent among them; and at last,
+some guns were, I believe, fired on one of the ships. Immediately after
+this, measures of retaliation were arranged, and were acted upon at
+once; the place off which the fleet was, being attacked and taken,
+and all the forts and villages in the neighbourhood burnt within
+forty-eight hours after the Spanish flag had been insulted. After
+this severe lesson the Sultan and Datos fled, leaving in the hands of
+the Spaniards eight bamboo forts and one hundred and thirty pieces of
+artillery, besides several other warlike stores. All this took place
+very recently, no longer ago than on the last day of February of this
+year (1851). General Urbistondo published to his troops a general
+complimentary order, dated from the fortified residence of one of
+the most powerful Datos; and on the 1st of March the Spaniards were
+in possession of the principal fort of the Sultan. The particulars
+of this expedition I cannot give, having left Manilla shortly before
+the preparations for it began, although, I believe, it consisted of
+three war-steamers and some transports, who carried about 4000 men
+down to Sooloo.
+
+The loss of the Spaniards in the whole affair was 34 men killed,
+with 84 wounded. A very unpleasant circumstance to the army was
+connected with this expedition. Two field-officers, both of them acting
+lieutenant-colonels of separate regiments, showed the white feather
+at the moment of danger; for which, I believe, they have since been
+cashiered, and not shot, as they might have been, had their chief
+not been as merciful as he is brave.
+
+Although this chastisement to the Sooloo men has been severe, it is
+unlikely to restrain the chiefs from their predatory expeditions, at
+least for any length of time; as under the present state of things
+prevailing among them, they have no other objects to exhaust their
+idleness and energetic characters upon, than piratical adventure. But
+were commerce and its emoluments displayed before them, from some
+place in the vicinity of Zamboanga, or from that place itself, the
+civilizing influence which the arts of peace always engender would so
+pervade their minds in a very few years, that their habits would be
+changed, and the blessings of education, religion, and peace, might
+be expected to civilize and elevate their minds. Their energies and
+seamanship would then be in requisition as the navigators of all
+the Archipelago, and to carry in their native vessels the produce
+of the fertile inland districts of Mindanao, and of Northern Borneo,
+to the great mart which Zamboanga would become, should it fortunately
+be made an open port of trade for the people of all nations.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+The coasting trade, which is a very important nursery for the marine
+of the Philippines, is carried on exclusively by the national vessels,
+no foreign ships being allowed to engage in it.
+
+Manilla, being the only port open to the foreign merchants, is the
+grand emporium or centre to which nearly all the productions of the
+islands are brought, which regulation gives employment to an infinite
+number of colonial shipping, in carrying them to that market. Every
+day there are several arrivals from the various sea-ports of the
+different districts of the islands, of brigs, schooners, pontines,
+galeras, caracoas, and pancos, all of them being curious specimens
+of every variety of ship-building, from the black and low snake-like
+schooner, or handsome brig, to the most rude description of vessel
+built. Where iron nails are scarce and expensive, some of these are
+fastened together apparently in a manner the most unsatisfactory
+possible for their crews or passengers, should they have to encounter
+a gale of wind during their voyages.
+
+Nearly the whole of the coasting trade is in the hands of the Indians,
+or Mestizos of Chinese descent, called _Sangleys_, although several
+Spaniards and European Mestizos at Manilla also own a better class of
+ships than those described, constantly engaged in going and returning
+from the provinces.
+
+Still, from some cause or other, they do not appear to carry the on
+trade so successfully as the provincial shipowners, most of whom have
+only one or two small vessels, which they keep constantly running
+between their native place and Manilla, and whose sole business
+it is, after despatching either of them, to purchase up from the
+cultivators of the soil, such small lots of their produce as are
+cheap at the time, such as sugar, rice, &c., which they are able to
+do at greatly lower terms, when buying them by little at a time, than
+it would be possible for the agent of a merchant in Manilla to do,
+whose operations it would probably be necessary should be conducted
+upon a more extensive and quicker scale, and whose knowledge of the
+district and of the vendors could seldom be equal to that of a native
+Sangley, or Indian born among them.
+
+In consequence of all the produce being originally purchased by small
+lots at a time, it is of very variable quality; and on a cargo of
+Muscovado sugar, for instance, being purchased from one of these
+traders by a foreign merchant of Manilla, for exportation, it is
+perfectly essential to open the whole of the bags in which it has
+come up to Manilla from the provinces, and to empty their contents
+into one great heap, which causes it to get well mingled together,
+and ensures the requisite regularity of sample, after which it has
+to be rebagged and shipped off to the foreign vessels that may be
+waiting to receive it in the bay.
+
+Of course the expense of all this is very considerable, for not
+only is there all the labour and cost of bags, &c., incurred twice,
+but there is the freight and insurance by the province vessel, which
+has brought it up to Manilla, to be added to the natural cost of the
+sugar at the place of its growth and manufacture.
+
+All these restrictions on trade affect the quantity of sugar sold
+by the native planters, and in a very material degree depress the
+agricultural activity of the people, who suffer from them. But probably
+there are no greater sufferers from such restrictive regulations than
+the Government which so ignorantly sustains or has imposed them. So
+little anxious have they been to encourage the trade, that formerly,
+at various times, they very nearly all but ruined it, by imposing
+import duties on all the produce of the provinces that came to
+Manilla from them, for sale. This, added to the export duties at
+the time of its shipment to foreign markets, so much increased the
+cost of those articles in Manilla, that the foreign merchants there,
+finding they could procure similar merchandise at other places for less
+money, of course would not buy it; and the native traders, finding
+their produce unsaleable except at losing prices, could not make any
+further purchases from the native agriculturists, which caused so much
+distress in the country, that the provinces got into a high state of
+disaffection on several occasions, from the same cause; upon seeing
+which the Government were wise enough to repeal their restrictive
+laws, and allow the free interchange of commodities between all the
+provinces of the Philippines.
+
+For instead, as was supposed, of its falling upon the exporting foreign
+merchants, and on those who bought their cargoes of Manilla produce
+from them at the port of discharge, the tax fell upon the native
+agriculturists, inasmuch as they had to reduce the former prices of
+all their produce which paid the tax, and to equalise them to the
+rates at which similar merchandise was procurable in other markets,
+where no tax of the sort existed;--and this, of course, compelled the
+cultivators of these articles in the Philippines to sell the produce
+of their farms for less money than they formerly obtained for the same
+goods. By so doing, it was equivalent to reducing the former wages of
+their labour, or of the produce of their land--the effects of which
+were speedily felt and comprehended by them, although some of the
+officials, who imposed it, might scoff at the causes they assigned,
+and reiterate their crude and erroneous notions of political economy,
+to prove that it could not affect them, but must be paid by the great
+merchants, or by the consumers of their produce in Europe. They quite
+forgot that these could be supplied with the same things from other
+places, where they were not subjected to the tax, and of course were
+procurable cheaper.
+
+Owners of vessels suitable for the coasting trade, who reside
+in Manilla, have one advantage over the provincial ship-builders;
+namely, that when the government service gives employment to shipping,
+they are in a better position for offering for it, than persons at
+a distance from the capital can be.
+
+The freight of tobacco, for instance, gives a good deal of employment
+to ships, and as government rates are in general rather better than
+any charters obtainable from private merchants, the procuring of
+a government contract for carrying any of the articles which they
+monopolize, of which the above-mentioned is one, is an object of some
+competition. These freights are usually settled by tenders, sealed and
+delivered to an officer appointed to receive them, by the Yntendente,
+or officer at the head of the Finance Department. I was acquainted
+with a gentleman, who, having several idle vessels suitable for
+this carrying trade, was of course most anxious to get the contract,
+to give employment to his ships; and having found out who the other
+contractors for it were, and all of them happening to be cautious
+men, not likely to offer for it at a losing price, he resolved to
+play a bold game, and made his tender for the conveyance of it out
+in some such words as these: "I offer freight for the tobacco, at
+one _cuarto_ less than any body else will take it at," and signed
+his name; a _cuarto_ being the very smallest copper coin current at
+Manilla. Of course he got the contract; which--as he anticipated from
+knowing the men who offered for it--turned out to be a very good one;
+and, as the Yntendente of the time was an intimate friend of his,
+he ran little risk of being taken advantage of, by a lower sum being
+named to him as the lowest tender than what was actually the case.
+
+Nearly all the tobacco collected in Cagayan is yearly brought to
+Manilla during the north-east monsoon. The contracts for this purpose
+generally embrace a term of three or four years, during which the rate
+paid by Government to the person who engages to bring all the bales
+(or cases) of it which they may require at one fixed freight, never
+fluctuates, even although the amount shipped by them is very much in
+excess of the usual quantity, and he may be forced to charter vessels
+from his neighbours at a much higher rate than the Government pay him,
+in order to fulfil the conditions of his contract. Considerable care
+is requisite in loading this tobacco, as, should there be a mistake
+made even of one bale, the contractor is forced to account for it to
+Government at the price they sell it at, which is about three times
+as much as they pay for it; and this regulation is no doubt found to
+be very requisite, in order to prevent fraud.
+
+After the tobacco has been manufactured into cigars, the contractor
+has to deliver it at various stations throughout the islands, these
+places being generally the head-quarters of the fiscal or _estanco_
+department of the different maritime provinces from which the other are
+supplied. Besides the coasting trade from the provinces to Manilla,
+and that in the government service, there is a trade carried on
+by various provinces between themselves, such as conveying rice or
+paddy from the grain-districts to other provinces where less of it
+is grown, from the attention of the natives being directed to some
+other agricultural produce more suitable than paddy to their soil and
+climate, as from Antique to Mindora or Zamboanga, or from the island
+of Samar to that of Negros, or to Mesamis. Thus in the hemp provinces,
+little paddy is planted, as it is more profitable for them to make
+hemp, or to weave Sinamais cloths, &c., than to do so. This commerce,
+however, is not of any great extent; the principal--indeed the only
+great--market of the country being Manilla, where traders from all
+parts of the Archipelago meet to buy and sell.
+
+It has been mentioned elsewhere that foreign men, as well as foreign
+ships, are at present excluded from engaging in the provincial trade;
+which is about as illiberal and unwise an act as any country could
+be guilty of, and should be changed, not for the benefit of foreign
+traders, but for the good of the country.
+
+In connexion with the province trade, the naval school ought to be
+mentioned, as it is a most useful institution, where arithmetic,
+geometry, and navigation are taught gratuitously, at an expense to
+Government of nearly 2,400 dollars a-year.
+
+The President of the Chamber of Commerce is also President of the
+school, and the members of that body have the privilege of admitting
+the pupils--a right which I believe they exercise liberally. At this
+place, boys are very well trained up in the scientific and theoretical
+part of their profession; but unfortunately, from some cause or other,
+their education afterwards as practical seamen does not keep pace with
+it, and they generally are as much behind our British or American
+shipmasters in all relating to the sea, as can be well conceived,
+although they are not unfrequently superior to them, and at least
+are equal, in their theoretical attainments.
+
+At this school, many of the Creoles and Mestizos of Manilla have
+shown to the world that they did not want the ability to learn,
+when they had good masters to instruct them; but good heads and
+hands are seldom found together. In fact, I rather think that the
+lads educated here are taught too much (if that be possible), and
+by being so, have their ideas raised above their stations; for many
+of them are, by a great deal, much more like gentlemen than a number
+of the merchant skippers or mates in our British ships, whose horny
+fists and tar-stained dress make few pretensions to outward gentility.
+
+Among the province-trading vessels lying at anchor in Manilla
+river, there are at all times to be seen some curious specimens of
+ship-building, few of them being insurable.
+
+Some of these coasters, although nearly all shaped in the European
+style, have almost the whole of their rigging constructed of ropes
+made from the bamboo, and are fitted with anchors made from ebony
+or some other heavy wood, having occasionally a large piece of stone
+fastened to them, to insure their sinking. The cables to which they
+are attached are generally of a black rush, like sedge, or of bamboo;
+but in the event of a gale, I should say that their crews had great
+need never to embark in these frail shells, except when well assured
+of being at peace with God and man.
+
+In ordinary years these vessels are laid up for several months every
+season, as it would most probably be certain destruction for any of
+them to attempt proceeding to sea from October till December.
+
+Although a large proportion of the colonial-built vessels are bad,
+still there are a few constructed in the country which would be
+considered fine ships in any part of the world.
+
+When a good vessel is built there, the first voyage she makes is
+usually to Spain, if she can get a freight; and after discharging
+her cargo, her next voyage is to a British port, in order that she
+may be fitted with copper bolts and iron work, under the inspection
+of Lloyd's surveyor; after which her character is established, and
+she is classed A 1 ship for a term of years.
+
+But notwithstanding these ships being placed in Lloyd's books,
+the insurance offices can seldom be persuaded to accept of risks
+even in first-class vessels, when their crews are Spaniards, on
+the same favourable terms at which risks are freely taken on good
+British ships. They almost invariably demand an increased premium,
+and occasionally decline risks by them altogether.
+
+Now, although bad management sometimes occurs on board of Spanish
+ships, our own are not exempt from it; and I believe that prejudice
+causes them to refuse the insurance as much as anything else.
+
+The Dons have got a bad name as seamen, and very true is the elegant
+proverb, "Give a dog a bad name, and hang him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+Nearly the whole of the produce of the Philippines is exported from
+Manilla by the foreign merchants resident there, none of the Spaniards
+being engaged in commerce to anything like the same extent as the
+foreigners are; the few British and the two American houses doing
+an immensely greater amount of business than the whole transactions
+of all the Spanish merchants, numerous though they be. The trade of
+my countrymen consists principally in selling cotton manufactured
+goods, and in purchasing the produce of the islands for export;
+while the business of the Americans, who sell few goods, consists
+almost entirely in purchasing produce for the markets of the United
+States, and elsewhere. The Chinese are also large importers of their
+country's manufactures, curiosities, and nick-knacks, and also very
+considerable exporters.
+
+The statistical data embodied in the following tables will inform the
+reader pretty exactly of the amount of exports from the Philippines,
+with the exception of the single article of rice, immense quantities
+of which are carried over to China by Spanish ships, which load it
+at the districts where it is grown; for as the Government charge no
+export duty on its exportation in ships bearing the national flag,
+they are allowed to depart from the general rule of all vessels being
+obliged to load at Manilla while shipping cargo for foreign ports,
+if they are merely taking rice on board, and nothing else.
+
+It is right, however, to inform the reader, that although the subjoined
+table may approach very nearly to the truth in most respects, as it
+has been gradually and very carefully collected by the largest British
+mercantile establishment at Manilla, the nature of whose business
+requires that they should be as well acquainted with all facts such
+as the table embraces, as from the nature of existing circumstances
+there it is possible to be, yet at that place there is at all times a
+greater or less degree of difficulty in obtaining correct statistical
+information of the trade; and this is considerably increased by the
+Government not choosing to communicate the particulars they collect
+at the Custom-house, erroneous though they be.
+
+In an underhand way, however, these particulars can be obtained from
+some of the Indian copyists employed in that establishment, if they
+are paid for it; and, in fact, they are in the habit of communicating a
+note of the different cargoes of ships coming in, or going away loaded,
+to some of the merchants. Yet these notes are nearly always more or
+less erroneous, from various causes. To obviate these inconveniences,
+several of the principal export merchants are in the habit of mutually
+furnishing each other with a correct statement of the various cargoes
+they ship; but still, as there are many exporters besides themselves,
+some degree of error must pervade even their carefully-gleaned
+information. But there is one thing to be borne in mind, that the
+following table is most likely to be considerably under the truth,
+and certainly is not over it.
+
+
+                     General Statement of Exports from Manilla during 1850.
+
+---------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+---------+----------+-------+----------------
+               |  To    |  To the |  To the  |  To     |   To    |    To    |  To   |
+               | Great  |Continent|Australian| China.  |Singapore|California|United |
+               |Britain.|   of    | Colonies |         | Batavia,| and the  |States.| Total
+               |        | Europe. |          |         |& Bombay.| Pacific. |       |
+---------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+---------+----------+-------+----------------
+Sugar          | 146,926|  50,830 |  142,359 |   --    |  12,749 |  29,144  | 77,919|459,927 peculs.
+Hemp           |  16,073|   5,568 |     --   |   --    |     544 |    --    |102,184|124,367   "
+Cordage        |      96|     476 |    3,753 |  1,732  |     680 |   2,137  |    210|  9,084   "
+Cigars         |  10,319|  11,867 |   12,561 |  9,262  |  26,859 |   1,707  |    914| 73,439 mil.
+Leaf Tobacco   |    --  |  42,629 |     --   |   --    |    --   |    --    |   --  | 42,629 quintals
+Sapan-wood     |  37,068|  14,436 |     --   | 18,942  |  17,337 |    --    |  9,015| 96,798 arrobas.
+Coffee         |     165|   9,670 |    1,481 |    100  |     250 |   1,072  |  2,063| 14,801 peculs
+Indigo         |     259|     213 |     --   |uncertain|    --   |    --    |  3,753|  4,225 quintals
+Hides          |   3,340|     213 |     --   |  1,069  |    --   |    --    |   --  |  4,622 peculs.
+Hide Cuttings  |    --  |    --   |     --   |    536  |    --   |    --    |  2,419|  2,955   "
+Mother-of-pearl|        |         |          |         |         |          |       |
+  Shell        |     820|     338 |     --   |   --    |     260 |    --    |     74|  1,492   "
+Tortoise-shell |   2,081|     580 |     --   |    555  |   1,912 |    --    |    469|  5,597 catties.
+Rice           |    --  |   6,576 |     --   |uncertain|    --   |   1,467  |   --  |Uncertain.
+Beche de Mer   |    --  |    --   |     --   |  4,348  |    --   |    --    |   --  |  4,348 peculs.
+Gold Dust      |    --  |    --   |     --   |  5,068  |    --   |    --    |   --  |  5,068 taels.
+Camagon, or    |        |         |          |         |         |          |       |
+  Ebony-wood   |     235|   1,213 |     --   |    794  |    --   |    --    |   --  |  2,242 peculs.
+Grass-cloth    |     175|  13,252 |     --   |    500  |    --   |     650  | 22,975| 37,552 pieces.
+Hats           |    --  |    --   |    9,400 |  5,115  |   9,115 |     500  | 25,870| 50,000 hats.
+---------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+---------+----------+-------+----------------
+
+
+The quantity of rice and paddy shipped to China from the provinces
+cannot be ascertained with any degree of exactness; what goes from
+Manilla is very small, because, before arriving there, it has, by its
+transport expenses, added to the price at which it is obtainable in
+the districts where it is produced, which, of course, prevents its
+being shipped from the capital. At a guess, however, I should suppose
+that about a million cavans, each of which, one with another, weighs
+about a China pecul, or 133 1/3 lbs, is an average yearly export,
+should the Government not prohibit the article from being exported
+for a longer period than usual, which is annually regulated by the
+scarcity or abundance of food in the country.
+
+From the preceding table, the reader will observe that the exports
+of 1850, when compared with those of 1847, of which the following is
+a statement, have increased in some respects, and fallen off in others.
+
+
+                             Statement of Exports from Manilla during 1850.
+
+---------------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+----------------
+               |  To    | To the  |To the |  To the   |  To the  |   To    |    To    |  To    |
+               | Great  |Continent|United | Pacific   |Australian| China.  |Singapore.|Batavia.|
+               |Britain.|   of    |States.|   and     |Colonies. |         |          |        | Total
+               |        | Europe. |       |California.|          |         |          |        |
+---------------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+----------------
+Sugar          |104,246 |  18,755 | 92,149|   4,150   | 174,777  |   --    |     --   |   --   |394,077 peculs.
+Hemp           | 16,592 |   2,438 | 98,440|    --     |    --    |    300  |    1,888 |   --   |119,658   "
+Cordage        |     20 |     546 |  7,038|     404   |   4,430  |    825  |    1,425 |   --   | 14,688   "
+Indigo         |     58 |      78 |  2,166|    --     |    --    |    149  |      118 |   --   |  2,569 quintals
+Sapan-wood     | 12,055 |  11,960 | 28,891|    --     |     160  |  5,210  |   18,814 |  1,817 | 78,907 peculs.
+Hides          |  1,366 |     183 |  1,821|    --     |    --    |  2,389  |     --   |   --   |  5,759   "
+Hide Cuttings  |   --   |    --   |  1,893|    --     |    --    |   --    |     --   |   --   |  1,893   "
+Gold Dust      |   --   |    --   |   --  |   3,970   |    --    |   --    |     --   |   --   |  3,970 taels.
+Coffee         |   --   |   9,244 |    395|    --     |   4,267  |   --    |     --   |   --   | 13,906 peculs.
+Rice           | 23,760 |   4,520 |   --  |     300   |     772  |uncertain|     875  |   --   |Uncertain.
+Paddy          |  1,870 |  13,978 |   --  |    --     |    --    |uncertain|    --    |   --   |Ditto.
+Cigars         | 16,010 |  11,176 |   548 |     787   |   9,674  |  6,706  |  19,169  |  5,943 | 70,013 mil.
+Leaf Tobacco   |  5,440 | 115,016 |   --  |    --     |    --    |   --    |   5,280  |   --   |125,733 arrobas.
+Mother-of-Pearl|        |         |       |           |          |         |          |        |
+Shell          |    708 |      92 |   --  |    --     |    --    |     16  |    --    |   --   |    816 peculs.
+Grass-cloth    |   --   |    --   | 56,171|    --     |    --    |   --    |    --    |   --   | 56,171 pieces.
+Hats           |   --   |    --   |  1,600|    --     |  10,932  |   --    |   5,560  |   --   | 18,092 hats.
+---------------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+----------------
+
+
+The quantity of hemp shipped during the years 1848 and 1849, was
+greater than the quantity indicated in either of these tables, but
+as the increased export was principally caused by speculation in
+the United States, the average annual export may probably not be
+greater than the amount set down in the table of 1850, although,
+in the previous year, about 30,000 peculs more were shipped.
+
+Of the exports to the continent of Europe only a small proportion
+goes to Spain, probably not exceeding a third part of the quantities
+set down in the table for the continent.
+
+Bremen, Hamburg, and Antwerp, are the three towns in the north
+with which most business is done, and Bordeaux and Havre de Grace,
+are nearly the only places to which the other exports are shipped
+for Europe, exclusive of the ports of Cadiz, Malaga, and Bilboa,
+in the Peninsula.
+
+Having furnished the preceding tables of the amount of the exports
+from the only outlet for foreign trade with the islands, excepting in
+rice to China, as before mentioned, the reader may be able to form
+some opinion of their veracity and value. And as it may be of some
+service, I shall give a short sketch of each of the most important
+of the articles there set down, premising it with a memorandum of the
+weights and measures now in use through the islands. The pecul is equal
+to 140 lbs. English, or 137 1/2 lbs. Spanish; the Spanish lb. being
+two per cent. heavier than the standard British lb. The quintal is
+102 lbs. English, and the arroba 25 1/2 lbs. English. The cavan is a
+measure of the capacity of 5,998 cubic inches, and is subdivided into
+25 quintas. The Spanish yard, or vara, is eight per cent. shorter
+than the British yard, by which latter all the cotton and other
+manufactures are sold by the merchants importing them, although the
+shopkeepers who purchase them retail everything by the Spanish yard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+It is not my intention, even were it in my power, which it is not,
+to attempt an exact and complete description of all the productions
+of the group of islands composing the Philippines, to which nature
+has with no niggardly hand dispensed great territorial and maritime
+wealth. And as the limits of this work prevent much expansion, I will
+confine the following observations to an outline of the principal
+articles produced in the country, beginning the catalogue with the
+most important of them all, namely, rice.
+
+The cultivation of paddy, or rice, here, as all over Asia, exercises
+by far the greatest amount of agricultural labour, being their most
+extensive article of cultivation, as it forms the usual food of the
+people, and is, as the Spaniards truly call it, _El pau de los Indios_;
+a good or bad crop of it, influencing them just as much as potatoes
+do the Irish, or as the wheat crops do in bread-consuming countries.
+
+In September and October, when, in consequence of the heavy previous
+rains since the beginning of the wet season, the parched land is
+so buried as generally about that time to present the appearance of
+one vast marsh, it is ploughed lightly, after which the husbandman
+transplants the grain from the nurseries in which he had previously
+deposited it, in order to undergo there the first stages of vegetation.
+
+In December, or in January, the grain is ready for the sickle, and in
+general repays his cares and labour by the most abundant harvest. There
+is no culture more easy and simple; nor any which gives such positive
+good results in less time, as only four months pass between the times
+of sowing and reaping the rice crop.
+
+In some places the mode of reaping differs from the customs of
+others. At some places they merely cut the ears from off the stalks,
+which are allowed to remain on the fields to decay, and fertilize
+the soil as a manure; and in other provinces the straw is all reaped,
+and bound in the same way as wheat is at home, being then piled up in
+ricks and stacks to dry in the sun, after which the grain is separated
+by the treading of ponies, the horses of the country, upon it, or by
+other means, when the grain is again cleared of another outer husk,
+by being thrown into a mortar, generally formed out of the trunk of
+some large tree, where the men, women, and children of the farm are
+occupied in pounding it with a heavy wooden pestle, which removes the
+husk, but leaves the grain still covered by a delicate skin. When
+in this state it is known as pinagua; but after that is taken off,
+the rice is clean.
+
+For blowing away the chaff from the grain, they employ an implement
+worked by a handle and a wheel in a box, which is very similar to
+the old-fashioned fanners used in Scotland by the smaller farmers
+for the same purpose.
+
+In the neighbourhood of Manilla, there is a steam-mill for the purpose
+of cleaning rice; and there are several machines worked by horse-power
+throughout the country. But although there are many facilities for the
+employment of water-power for the same purpose, I am not acquainted
+with any mill moved on that principle.
+
+The qualities of rice produced in the different provinces, varies a
+good deal in quality. That of Ylocos is the heaviest, a cavan of it
+weighing about 140 lbs. English, while Camarines rice weighs only about
+132 lbs., and some of the other provinces not over 126 lbs. per cavan.
+
+Although in all the provinces rice is grown to a considerable extent,
+yet those which produce it best, and in greatest abundance, and form
+what may be called granaries for the others, which are not so suitable
+for that cultivation, may be considered to be Ylocos, Pangasinan,
+Bulacan, Capiz, Camarines, and Antique.
+
+It is best to ship rice in dry weather; and should it be destined
+for Europe, or any other distant market, it should leave by the
+fair monsoon, in order that the voyage may be as short as possible,
+to ensure which, all orders for rice purchases for the European
+markets should reach Manilla in December or January, as the new crop
+just begins to arrive about the end of that month. It takes about
+a month to clean a cargo at the steam-mill, and after March, the
+fair monsoon for homeward-bound ships cannot much be depended upon;
+and were the vessel to make a long passage, the cargo would probably
+be excessively damaged by weevils, by which it is very frequently
+attacked. Ylocos rice is considered to be the best for a long voyage,
+as it keeps better than that grown in other provinces.
+
+The price of white rice is rarely below two dollars per pecul, or
+above two and a half dollars per pecul, bagged and ready for shipment.
+
+A hundred cavans of ordinary province rice will usually produce 85
+per cent. of clean white, and about 10 per cent. of broken rice,
+which can be sold at about half the price of the ordinary quality:
+the remaining 5 per cent. is wasted in cleaning.
+
+Rice exported by a Spanish ship, goes free; but if exported by any
+foreign ship, even when it is sent to a Spanish colony, it pays 3
+1/2 per cent. export duty, and when sent to a foreign country by a
+foreign ship, it pays an export duty of 4 1/2 per cent. In order to
+be more explicit, it may be well to give a _pro forma_ invoice of rice.
+
+
+
+5,000 peculs of white rice, bought ready for shipment
+  at the mill, at $2-1/4 per pecul                          $11,250 00
+
+Charges :--
+
+  Export duty on valuation, which can generally
+    be managed to be got at a good deal under
+    the market price; say at $1-1/2 per pecul,
+    at 4-1/2 per cent.                               $337 50
+  Boat and coolie hire, shipping                     200 00
+                                                     ------
+                                                                537 50
+                                                             ----------
+                                                            $11,787 50
+
+Commission for purchasing and shipping,
+  &c., at 5 per cent.                                           589 37
+                                                            ----------
+                                                            $12,376 87
+
+
+This  is about equal to its price if purchased and cleaned in another
+manner; for instance:--
+
+
+1,000 cavans province rice, costing, say, 10-1/2
+  rials per cavan, =                                         $1,312 50
+
+  will generally produce 85 per cent. clean white
+  rice, fit for shipping, and 10 per cent. broken
+  rice, which can be sold at about 5-1/4 rials
+  per cavan, =                                                   65 62
+
+  thus 150 cavans (equal to about 820 peculs) will           ---------
+  cost                                                       $1,246 88
+
+Add the expenses of receiving on board the native
+  boats, measuring there, landing, re=measuring,
+  cleaning, bags and bagging, averaging from about
+  70 to 80 cents. per pecul of cleaned rice, say at
+  75 cents, =                                                   615 00
+                                                             ---------
+                                                             $1,861 88
+
+
+
+or equal to $2-27/100 per pecul for clean white rice, ready for
+shipment.
+
+_Sugar._--Although the cane is cultivated to a greater or less
+extent throughout all the islands, there are four descriptions of
+sugar well known in commerce, grown in the Philippines, and these
+come respectively from the districts of Pampanga, Pangasinan, Cebu,
+and Saal, after which districts they are named; and the growth of
+other places producing similar sugars to any of these descriptions,
+usually passes under one of these names in the market, although Yloylo
+is sometimes, though rarely, distinguished as a separate quality. The
+mills employed for expressing the juice from the cane are nearly all
+of stone; and firewood is usually employed to boil the sugar; for
+although they have for some years introduced the plan of employing
+the refuse of the cane for that purpose, it is not yet very general.
+
+A large quantity of the Muscovado sugar made in the country, resembling
+the descriptions produced in the provinces of Pampanga and Pangasinan,
+is brought to Manilla for sale, in large conical earthern jars, called
+_pilones_, each of which weighs a pecul. The Chinese or Mestizos who
+are engaged in the purifying of sugar are the purchasers of these lots,
+and most of them are in the habit of sending an agent through the
+country, with orders to buy up as much of such sugar as they require
+to keep their establishments at work. They are in the habit of paying
+these travellers a rial, which at Manilla is the eighth part of a
+dollar, for every pilone he purchases on their account at the limits
+they give him. When enough has been collected in one neighbourhood
+to load a casco or other province boat, it is despatched to their
+camarine at Manilla, where after being taken from the original pilone,
+if it has come from Pampanga, it is mixed up together, and placed in
+another one, with an opening at the conical part, which is placed over
+a jar into which the molasses distilling from it gradually drop, when
+the colour of the sugar from being brown becomes of a greyish tinge.
+
+At the top of the pilone, so placed with the cone turned down, a
+layer of clay is spread over the sugar, as it has the property of
+attracting all the impurities to itself; so that the parts of the
+sugar in the pilone next to the clay are certain to be of the whitest
+and best colour, whilst the sugar at the bottom, or next the opening
+of the cone, is the darkest and most valueless, until it has had its
+turn of the clay; for when the Chinamen perceive that the top part of
+the sugar in the pilone or earthen jar has attained a certain degree
+of whiteness, they separate the white from the darker coloured, and
+the greyish tinged sugar from the dark brown coloured portion at the
+foot of the jar; and after exposing the white and greyish coloured
+to the sun, they are packed up, while the dark brown portion, after
+being mixed with that of a similar colour, is again consigned to the
+pilone to be clayed.
+
+Besides clay, some portions of the stem of the plantain-tree are
+said to have the power of extracting the impurities from sugar, and
+in some districts are said to be preferred to clay for that purpose,
+being chopped up in small pieces, and spread over it.
+
+The unclayed descriptions of sugar are generally procurable at
+Manilla by the end of February, when the new crop commences to come
+in; and clayed, or the new crop, is seldom ready for delivery before
+the middle of March.
+
+The entire crop is all ready for export by the end of April, although
+the market is seldom cleared of it till the January of the ensuing
+year, when the sugar clayers being anxious to close their accounts
+of the past crop, and wind up all that remains in their camarines,
+in order to be ready for the new season's operations, are sometimes
+willing to make a reduction in the nominal price of the day, in order
+to effect that purpose. But as the grain of sugar does not improve
+by keeping, especially when it has to stand the moistness of the
+atmosphere during the preceding wet season, such sugar, if bought at
+that time, is seldom equal in grain to the produce of the new crop,
+although its colour may be preferable.
+
+Pangasinan sugar is of a beautiful white colour, but with a very
+inferior grain: it loses much in the sun-dryings, and is generally,
+I believe, mixed with the clayed Pampanga sugar, to give the latter
+a colour, although all the dealers deny doing it themselves, but are
+ready enough to believe, if told that their neighbours are in the
+habit of mixing both Cebu and it, in their pilones,--the first for
+the sake of cheapness, and the other for a colour. Pampanga sugar is
+of a brownish tinge, and when of good quality, of a strong grain. It
+possesses a very much greater quantity of saccharine matter than any
+other description of sugar I am acquainted with, and is consequently
+a favourite of the refiners at home and in Sweden. Taal and Cebu
+descriptions are never clayed separately, although, as before
+mentioned, the latter, on account of its cheapness, is occasionally
+mixed with Pampanga for claying.
+
+They are principally in demand for the Australian colonies, where Taal
+is generally preferred to Cebu (or Zebu), from its possessing more
+saccharine matter than the latter. Taal is generally so moist that
+it always loses considerably in weight, sometimes to the extent of
+about 10 per cent., and even more;--it is a strong sweet sugar. Cebu
+seldom loses so much as Taal, generally not more than 3 per cent. on
+a voyage of about two months' duration.
+
+All sugar is sold to the export merchants by the pecul of 140
+lbs. English, and it is either paid for at the time of its delivery,
+or if a contract is made for a large quantity with a clayer, or other
+dealer, it is often necessary to advance a portion of the price to
+enable him to execute the order, and the merchants often do this long
+before a pecul of sugar is received from him, or any security given
+in return. This system prevails not only in sugar, but in all other
+articles of the agricultural produce of the islands, in the sale of
+which no credit is given to the purchaser.
+
+Sugar pays an export duty of 3 per cent. It should never be weighed
+except upon a hot dry day, as if there is the least moisture in the
+air it absorbs it, and adds considerably to its weight.
+
+In connection with sugar, it may be stated, that some very good rum is
+made at Manilla, although very little is exported. It is a monopoly
+of the Government, who farm it out to one of the sugar clayers at
+Manilla. Molasses are never shipped, but are used in Manilla for
+mixing with the water given to the horses to drink, most of them
+refusing to taste it unless so sweetened.
+
+Hemp is produced from the bark of a species of the plantain-tree,
+forests of which are found growing wild in some provinces of the
+Philippines. The operation of making it is simple enough, the most
+important of the process apparently being the separation of the
+fibres from each other by an iron instrument, resembling a comb
+for the hair. After drying in the sun, and undergoing several other
+processes, with the minutiae of which I am unacquainted, it is made
+up into bales, weighing 280 lbs. each, and in that state is shipped
+for Manilla, where, after being picked more or less white, which is
+dependent entirely upon the purposes it is intended to serve, and the
+markets it has to be sent to, it is again pressed into bales of the
+same weight as before, although of much less bulk, and is exported,
+the greater quantity of it going to the United States of America,
+as the export tables will show.
+
+The best hemp is of a long and fine white fibre, very well dried, and
+of a silky gloss. The dark coloured is not so well liked, and if too
+bad for exportation, is generally made up into ropes for the colonial
+shipping, or sent down to Singapore for transhipment to Calcutta,
+where it is employed for the same purpose.
+
+The best hemp comes from Sorsogon and Leyte, and some of the Cebu
+is also very good. Albay, Camarines, Samar, Bisayas, and some other
+districts, are those from which it principally comes.
+
+The freight on hemp shipped by American vessels to the United States,
+is reckoned at the rate of 40 cubic feet, or four bales of 10 feet
+each, to the ton; but when shipped to Great Britain, the freight is
+generally calculated at the ton of 20 cwt., or 2,240 lbs. avoirdupois.
+
+Annexed is a table of calculations of what it will cost if put on board
+a ship in Manilla Bay, including all charges, and 5 per cent. paid
+to an agent there for purchasing it, &c.
+
+
+--------------+-----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------------
+              | If bought |        |        |        |        |        |        |
+              | at $5 per |        |        |        |        |        |        |
+              |   pecul   |        |        |        |        |        |        |
+    At the    |would cost,|   At   |   At   |   At   |   At   |   At   |   At   |   At
+   exchange   |  free on  | $5-1/4 | $5-1/2 | $5-3/4 |   $6   | $6-1/4 | $6-1/2 |   $7
+      of      |   board   |        |        |        |        |        |        |
+--------------+-----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------------
+s. d.         |  L  s. d. |L  s. d.|L  s. d.|L  s. d.|L  s. d.|L  s. d.|L  s. d.|L  s. d.
+4  1     per $| 19   0  6 |19 17  8|20 11  5|21 12  1|22 10  5|23  6  3|24  5  4|26  0  3}
+4  1-1/2  "   | 19   4  5 |20  1  9|20 19  8|21 16  5|22 15  0|23 11  0|24 10  5|25  5  6}Per
+4  2      "   | 19   8  3 |20  5 10|21  3 11|22  0  9|22 19  6|23 15  9|24 15  3|26 10  0}
+4  2-1/2  "   | 19  12  2 |20  9 11|21  8  2|22  5  2|23  4  2|24  0  6|25  0  2|26 16  2}ton
+4  3      "   | 19  16  0 |20 13 11|21 12  4|22  9  7|23  8  9|24  5  4|25  5  1|27  1  6}
+4  3-1/2  "   | 19  19 11 |20 18  0|21 16  8|22 14  0|23 13  4|24 10  1|25 10  1|27  6  9}of
+4  4      "   | 20   3 10 |21  2  1|22  0 10|22 18  5|23 18  0|24 14 10|25 15  0|27 12  1}
+4  4-1/2  "   | 20   7  8 |21  6  1|22  5  1|23  2 10|24  2  6|24 19  7|26  0  0|27 17  5}20
+4  5      "   | 20  11  7 |21 10  2|22  9  4|23  7  3|24  7  2|25  4  4|26  5  0|28  2  9}
+4  5-1/2  "   | 20  15  6 |21 14  3|22 13  7|23 11  8|24 11  9|25  9  1|26  9 11|28  8  0}cwt.
+4  6      "   | 20  19  4 |21 18  3|22 17 10|23 16  0|24 16  4|25 13 10|26 14 10|28 13  4}
+--------------+-----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------------
+
+
+To understand this table, suppose an agent in Manilla purchases a
+quantity of hemp for a merchant in London, at 5 dollars per pecul, the
+cost of packing, shipping, and the 5 per cent. commission for buying,
+&c., will make it cost, when put on board ship in Manilla Bay, 20_l._
+19_s._ 4_d._ per ton, if drawn for at the exchange of 4_s._ 6_d._
+to the dollar. On its arrival at London, the freight, insurance, &c.,
+added to this, will be its actual cost laid down there.
+
+_Tobacco._--The best tobacco produced in the Philippines is grown
+in the Island of Luzon or Luconia, where it is monopolized by the
+Government, to whom it furnishes an important revenue. From the
+province of Cagayan, where the greater part of it is grown, the
+best quality comes, and that leaf, being much stronger than any
+grown elsewhere, is generally used as the envelope to wrap round
+the inferior descriptions of tobacco employed in the manufacture of
+cheroots. Most of the other descriptions used for them come from the
+district of Gapan, in Pampanga province, and the two sorts combined
+are said to produce pleasanter cigars than either separately could
+do,--the Cagayan leaf being too strong to be used alone, and the
+Gapan leaf too mild for the ordinary taste.
+
+In the mountains of Ylocos and Pangasinan, some of the native Indians
+inhabiting them grow quantities of tobacco, which they sell to the
+traders of the neighbourhood. In these mountains the Indians are still
+free, and retain their old pagan religion, unsubdued either by the
+Spanish soldiery, or by the more salutary and effective warfare waged
+against them by the priests, who labour assiduously to convert them
+to Christianity. Being mountaineers, and leading the unsettled and
+roving life of huntsmen, subsisting by the produce of the chase and
+the plaintain-tree, very little is known about them at Manilla beyond
+the fact of their existence, although the well-directed energies
+of several enthusiastic missionaries, who have as yet only found
+an entrance among them, are likely to civilize and ameliorate their
+condition somewhat, and to supply this information. Notwithstanding
+that the mounted police force, scattered over the country, are
+particularly attentive to hunt out all illicit growth of tobacco,
+and to put a stop to it by the severest punishments when it is
+discovered; they have not as yet been, nor in fact are likely to be,
+at all successful in doing so efficiently, so long as the Government
+continue to make the enormous profit they at present do from its sale,
+after it has been made by them into cheroots, or brought to Manilla
+and sold in the leaf for export. In Bisayas the quality of the leaf
+is so inferior in strength and appearance to that produced in Luzon,
+that the Government have not thought it worth while to appropriate
+the produce of the islands to themselves by a monopoly.
+
+There are several extensive manufactories of cigars carried on by
+the Government at and near Manilla, the most extensive being in the
+capital, although those at Malabone and Cavite also employ a great
+number of people in rolling them up.
+
+In making cheroots women only are employed, the number of those so
+engaged in the factory at Manilla being generally about 4000. Besides
+these, a large body of men are employed at another place in the
+composition of cigarillos, or small cigars, kept together by
+an envelope of white paper in place of tobacco; these being the
+description most smoked by the Indians.
+
+The flavour of Manilla cheroots is peculiar to themselves, being quite
+different from that made of any other sort of tobacco; the greatest
+characteristic probably being its slightly soporific tendency, which
+has caused many persons, in the habit of using it, to imagine that
+opium is employed in the preparatory treatment of the tobacco, which,
+however, is not the case.
+
+The cigars are made up by the hands of women in large rooms of the
+factory, each of them containing from 800 to 1000 souls. These are all
+seated, or squatted, Indian-like, on their haunches, upon the floor,
+round tables, at each of which there is an old woman presiding to keep
+the young ones in order, about a dozen of them being the complement of
+a table. All of them are supplied with a certain weight of tobacco,
+of the first, second, or third qualities used in composing a cigar,
+and are obliged to account for a proportionate number of cheroots,
+the weight and size of which are by these means kept equal.
+
+As they use stones for beating out the leaf on the wooden tables,
+before which they are seated, the noise produced by them while making
+them up is deafening, and generally sufficient to make no one desirous
+of protracting a visit to the place. The workers are well recompensed
+by the Government, as very many of them earn from six to ten dollars
+a month for their labour, and as that amount is amply sufficient to
+provide them with all their comforts, and to leave a large balance for
+their expenses in dress, &c., they are seldom very constant labourers,
+and never enter the factory on Sundays, or, at least, on as great an
+annual number of feast-days as there are Sundays in a year.
+
+During the years of 1848 and 49, the Government were not in the habit
+of selling leaf-tobacco for export, but they have again resumed the
+practice of 1847, which, however, is likely to be stopped soon again;
+how soon, it is impossible to say--probably just when the caprice of
+the director of tobacco inclines him, as he is an influential person,
+generally, in his own department.
+
+The denominations of cheroots were changed in January, 1848; when the
+description formerly known as Thirds was and still is called Seconds,
+and the manufacture of a new sort known as Firsts was begun.
+
+The weights of new cigars when sent out of the factory are as
+follow:--Firsts 1500, Seconds 3000, Thirds 4000 to the arroba; the
+weight of the arroba when issued by Government from the factory being
+actually 1 pound 9 ounces over the current weight,--this allowance
+being made to meet the loss of weight which cigars always experience
+during a long sea-voyage, which, although it diminishes their bulk,
+is said materially to improve their flavour. All cigars for the use
+of the country-people are made in the Havana shape, and are prohibited
+being exported, probably from their desire to keep the name of Manilla
+cheroots up to its proper status, as the Havana-shaped cigars are
+seldom equal in flavour to those made for exportation.
+
+A large quantity of the Havana-shaped are made and used in the
+country by smugglers, who sell them at one-half the price charged by
+the Government, and some of these are occasionally sent from Manilla
+by stealth. But they are seldom so good as those of the Government
+make, although that occasionally deteriorates to an alarming degree,
+so that every now and then very bad cheroots are exported. Of course,
+when they are smoked and disliked no one uses them, and they become
+unsaleable, so that when Government finds that there are few or no
+purchasers, and that their stock is accumulating, they are obliged to
+use a better class tobacco in their manufacture, upon which people
+begin to buy from them again. However, this uncertainty as to their
+_at all times_ producing good cigars, has a most detrimental effect
+upon themselves, and this alone prevents their consumption from being
+very much greater than it now is, if one uniformly good quality of
+tobacco were always used and the bad descriptions sold.
+
+The rates at which Government sell cigars are fixed, being 14 dollars
+per 1000 for Firsts, 8 dollars for Seconds, and 6 3/4 dollars for
+Thirds; although, if the purchasers will take off more than the
+stocks existing in their warehouses, the prices may be regulated by
+the eagerness of the buyers, from the cigars being sold at public
+auction, which, however, very seldom happens. Purchasers have no
+power to secure the good quality of the cigars they buy, as on an
+application being made to the director of the renta for a quantity,
+he merely fills up a printed order for their delivery, and after the
+money has been paid for them, but not till then, they are delivered
+by the warehouse-keepers at random, as it is not allowed to select for
+delivery any of the cigars under their charge, which are consequently
+never seen by the purchaser until after the completion of the bargain,
+when if the quality is bad he has no remedy for it, as they will not be
+received back again by the Government or the money for them returned.
+
+_Indigo._--The quantity produced is very small; that exported to the
+United States being the bulk of the crop, although large quantities
+of liquid indigo are also annually sent to China in casks; but I have
+not been able to ascertain its amount with any degree of precision. It
+is of an inferior quality to the solid dye, and sells for considerably
+less money.
+
+The dye coming from the provinces of Laguna and Pangasinan is generally
+of superior quality to that produced in Ylocos and elsewhere, their
+relative prices being about forty-five dollars per quintal for the
+first two descriptions, and twenty-eight dollars for the other sorts
+of first, second, and third qualities in proportions.
+
+The cultivation of the plant is very precarious, as it is liable
+to damage from a variety of causes; it will die if too much water
+collects round it, or if too little is given to it. It generally
+is grown on a dry soil, having a slight decline, to carry off the
+rain. To extract the dye from the plant, the usual process is to
+place it in large vessels containing lime and water, and then to
+bruise it with a wooden pestle; after which, when the water becomes
+still, the colouring matter will sink to the bottom of the vessel,
+when the water and the plants are drained off, and the matter, which
+by that time has acquired the consistency of paste, is exposed to the
+air to dry upon mats: as it becomes more dry it is divided by lines
+into small quadrangular pieces, and is broken up.
+
+To secure a good quality of indigo, great attention must be paid to
+the clearness of the water, and the proper mixture and quantity of
+the lime, as too much or too little is equally pernicious; also the
+time during which the bruising takes place, which, it appears, is a
+matter of very nice judgment, as it is usual to explain or account
+for the cause of the bad quality of a lot by saying that the planter
+has beat it for too long or too short a time, and that he did not
+know exactly when to stop.
+
+This article is very liable to adulteration, at which both native and
+Chinese dealers are so peculiarly expert, that purchasers trusting
+solely to their own knowledge are very liable to be deceived by them.
+
+The blues of the country are much brighter than any of the British or
+continental dyes, and are in consequence much preferred by the natives.
+
+_Cotton_.--Cotton is only grown in a very small quantity, principally
+in Ylocos and Batangas provinces. Some of it is sent to China, but
+the major part of the crop is used in the country. It is seldom or
+never well cleaned, the rude machines employed for doing so being
+usually worked by the hand or foot, very imperfectly and slowly,
+cleaning only a small quantity of the wool in a day.
+
+_Cocoa-nut oil_.--Cocoa-nut oil is made in the province of Laguna
+and in Bisayas. That coming from the Laguna is of the best quality,
+and generally sells for a good deal more than the Bisayas oil,
+which does not give so good a light, and has a worse smell than the
+other. The manufacturing processes employed in producing it are very
+rude in both of these districts, although that followed in Laguna
+is the better of the two; but both are bad. It has been proposed,
+however, to remedy this by establishing proper machinery at Manilla
+for carrying on its production on a large scale, as is done in Ceylon.
+
+The chief difficulty of exporting the article appears to be the want
+of knowledge of the proper means of seasoning the tanks in which
+it is shipped. These have not as yet been well made at Manilla; and
+some merchants have been in the habit of getting their empty tanks
+from Batavia, as they are usually better made there than they are
+procurable in Manilla. The best mode of seasoning them appears to be,
+to fill them all with oil, and to place them in the sun, after being
+well coopered, above a large vat or other receptacle to catch all the
+oil which may leak out of them; and after they have stood for some
+time in this way, the pores of the wood get filled up by the oil,
+which prevents further leakage.
+
+When filled with water, as has been the practice for some time past
+at Manilla, on the oil being shipped, the effect, as has been found,
+is to increase its leakage over what the casks lose when they have not
+been filled with water, but left altogether alone, as water expands the
+wood, while oil causes it to shrink. By attention to the preparation of
+the casks at Colombo in Ceylon in this manner, they are able to send
+home oil in old beer casks, &c., which, of course, enables them to
+avoid a great deal of unnecessary expense. Perhaps a small quantity
+of boiling hot oil poured into a cask, which should then be rolled
+about so that the oil might wet every part of it, would cause it to
+shrink more speedily than by exposing it to the sun for about six
+weeks. I am not aware, however, of this having ever been tried.
+
+Cocoa is grown among plaintain-trees, which afford it some shade,
+and protect it from the excessive slow heat, which kills it.
+
+Although the growth of cocoa is at present very small, did any one take
+the trouble to bestow the necessary care and attention it demands, the
+crop might be very greatly augmented. The best is now grown in Cebu,
+although, from Samar, Misamis, and Batangas, the Manilla market is
+also supplied, but it is only saleable at about twenty-three dollars
+per pecul, while the Cebu grown fetches about twenty-seven dollars
+per pecul.
+
+Very little is exported, and the chocolate made in Manilla is nearly
+all consumed there. Supplies occasionally come from Guayaquil of a
+quality very similar to that of Cebu.
+
+All the efforts hitherto made to send cocoa to Spain, without
+its deteriorating in quality, by getting spotted, &c., have been
+unsuccessful.
+
+_Coffee._--Although there have been efforts made at various times to
+promote this valuable branch of agricultural industry, by holding out
+to the natives rewards in money for a certain number of plants in a
+state of bearing, it has not as yet had the effect of greatly promoting
+its growth. Tayabas and Laguna are provinces from which most of it
+comes to Manilla, but this it does by very small lots at a time, and
+generally uncleaned, which the provincial traders have to do here. The
+quality of most of that grown at these places is fully equal to that
+of Java, from which, however, it differs a good deal in flavour. The
+French, who take off the bulk of the crop, are fonder of its peculiar
+taste than most other people, and prefer it to other descriptions.
+
+Pepper is grown to a very limited extent in Tayabas, and is all
+consumed in the country, although in former years some has been
+exported from that province.
+
+Opium could be grown in the greatest perfection in several places
+of the Philippines, where the white poppy abounds in the utmost
+luxuriance; but Government do not choose to permit its growth and
+manufacture, except in the immediate vicinity of Manilla, although I
+believe there is a permission to do so there, where, however, there
+is no soil suitable for the growth of the plant. There are many
+places, also, which would subject the planters of it to the nearly
+unlimited control of the police, whose interference alone would be
+so vexatious and unpleasant as to deter any one from attempting its
+growth, even did the stringent regulations laid down with reference
+to it not do so; such as exactly counting the number of plants, and
+being forced to deposit all the drug in the custom-house for export,
+for the permission to do which twenty-five per cent. would have to be
+paid to the Government. These regulations are a virtual prohibition
+to engage in its cultivation, as no prudent man is at all likely to
+embark his capital in such an enterprise while they exist.
+
+In consequence of the heavy duty imposed upon opium, to discourage its
+importation, the greater portion of the drug consumed in the country
+is smuggled into it by the masters of the Spanish trading-vessels
+from China or Singapore.
+
+Government farm out the privilege of supplying the market with opium
+to the highest bidder, who seldom, however, imports many chests for
+its consumption; but what he does sell is usually at a very large
+advance on the prices paid for it in another market.
+
+How much better were it for the Government to attempt to regulate the
+trade of this article instead of doing all in their power to suppress
+it, in which they can never be successful, so long as Chinamen and
+their descendants remain with the tastes that now belong to them. Can
+there be any prohibition against the introduction of opium more strong
+than that of the Chinese Government? and are there any more useless,
+or any laws more openly evaded? It is impossible to extirpate the
+taste, but it would be easy to regulate and in some degree control it;
+and these are the proper and legitimate aims of a Government.
+
+Under proper management and increased facilities for the planter to
+rear opium, the Philippines, merely from their situation, would rule
+the China market for the drug, which would employ multitudes of people
+in its growth and manufacture, and be a source of immense wealth to
+the country.
+
+Some one will object that it is an immoral trade, which caters to
+the worst passions of the nature of the Chinese. Let it be proved so;
+let us see something more than mere prejudice; let it be shown to be
+worse than the conduct of the farmer, at home, who raises and sells
+barley to make whiskey; or of the distiller, who makes it; or of
+the West Indian, who produces rum from his estate, as both of these
+stimulants increase the evil passions in men while swayed by them,
+to a much greater extent than opium.
+
+Smoking tobacco does no good to the person who practises it; it is
+a vice, although those addicted to it may call it one of the lesser
+sins. But would it be just or wise to prohibit the growth of tobacco,
+because smoking it may not be a virtue?
+
+To attempt stopping the use of opium is no wiser, and just as futile,
+in China, as King Jamie's foolish decrees against tobacco proved to
+be in Britain.
+
+Wheat is grown in the provinces of Ylocos, Tayabas, and the Laguna,
+but is seldom or never more than enough to supply the wants of the
+European population, none of it being exported; and the import of
+foreign wheat is prohibited, although it is frequently conceded to
+the bakers, on their memorialising the Governor, and showing that
+the prices at the time of their doing so are excessively high.
+
+Although sulphur can scarcely be ranked in the same category with the
+preceding articles of commerce, I set it down here, as a considerable
+quantity is annually shipped to China. It is brought from the vicinity
+of the volcanoes in Bisayas: the best is said to come from Leyte,
+which is worth about one and a quarter dollar per pecul. Residents
+at Manilla usually immerse a large block, weighing about two peculs,
+in the wells from which their drinking water is taken, just as the
+rainy season commences, and it is found to have a most salutary effect
+upon the water impregnated with it, causing less liability to those
+who drink it, to suffer dysentery from its use.
+
+Cowries, the shells of a small snail, are found on the shores
+of several islands, and are shipped as an article of commerce to
+Singapore, &c., where they are, I believe, purchased by the Siam
+and Calcutta traders, as they serve for money in several of the
+countries of Asia. Those found on Sibuyan island, in Capiz province,
+are considered the best, being the smallest and stoutest. They are
+sold by the cavan, weighing nearly a pecul, if of good quality,
+at about two dollars per cavan.
+
+Pitch, or tar, is brought from Tayabas to Manilla, in boxes or baskets,
+and is employed, I believe, principally by the shipwrights there,
+in the prosecution of their business. Some of the natives also use
+it for making torches, it being cheaper than oil.
+
+Betel-nut, or areca, is, as is well known, used nearly all over
+Asia, all the natives of which are excessively fond of the taste
+the mastication of it produces in their mouths. The prepared leaf is
+called a _buyo_ in the Philippines, when it is spread over with lime,
+and a morsel of betel-nut enclosed in it. Immense quantities of it are
+consumed in the islands and in China, and in former times, I believe,
+it formed a branch of the excise revenue.
+
+_Hides._--The quantity of buffalo hides shipped to China and Europe
+is considerable. Those exported to China are sometimes shipped without
+being salted, although it is necessary that all those sent on so long
+a voyage as it is to Europe should undergo that process. Buffalo hide
+cuttings are generally prepared for shipment by being immersed in
+lime-water, from which they are withdrawn perfectly white and coated
+with lime.
+
+Buffalo hides weigh about 21 lbs. a-piece, and cow, only about the
+half of that. Deer hides are also sometimes, though rarely, cured
+and exported.
+
+The beef of the buffalo, cow, and deer, is cured for the China
+market, by being salted and allowed to dry in the sun: it is then
+called _sapa_.
+
+Tamarinds, which are called sampaloc by the natives, are seldom
+exported for sale.
+
+The woods of the country are various and valuable; but, perhaps,
+the best known for its useful properties, is the Sapan dye-wood,
+called sibocao. It comes from various provinces; but principally from
+Yloylo and Pangasinan.
+
+Good wood is stout, straight, well-coloured, and with no appearance
+or trace of water having been used to heighten it, which may be
+easily detected on a careful inspection, although the unwary have on
+several occasions been known to have purchased, and shipped home to
+Britain, quantities of the common firewood in place of it, as after
+being wetted, it acquires the colour of Sapan-wood, sufficiently to
+deceive an ignorant or careless purchaser.
+
+Nearly all of the straight wood is sent to Europe, and the roots to
+China and Calcutta, where they are said to be quite as well liked
+as straight wood, and beyond a doubt they produce more dye than
+the latter.
+
+The mountains of the Philippines are clothed with numberless varieties
+of woods of almost every description of Oriental timber; but the
+markets of Europe being so distant, and the cost of freight to them so
+enormous, very few are sent there, except, perhaps, ebony and molave,
+although several beautiful descriptions of wood are employed by the
+cabinet-makers of the country and those of China, some of which are
+of superior beauty to anything I have ever seen at home when made up
+into furniture.
+
+The ebony principally comes from Cagayan and Camarines, the wood from
+which is perfectly dark, and as good as any I know of. The Cagayan
+wood is very beautiful, being marked by broad black and white, or
+black and yellow stripes; it takes a polish very well, and forms a
+peculiarly fine timber for the cabinet-makers to exercise their skill
+upon, its rays producing magnificent tables, &c.
+
+Molave is a wood of great solidity, and of incredibly lasting
+properties; and it resists, better than all others, exposure to
+the weather. It is said to become petrified when immersed for some
+time in water, and in fact it appears to be nearly as lasting and
+incorruptible as stone itself. It is employed for nearly all purposes,
+and large quantities of it are shipped to China.
+
+Narra is a common description of red wood, somewhat resembling
+mahogany, which occasions it to be largely used in cabinet-making. From
+the lower parts of this tree I have seen a table exceeding two yards
+square, cut out, in one piece.
+
+Tindal wood resembles narra, but has a higher colour than the latter,
+which, however, gets sobered, and becomes darker by age.
+
+Alintatas is of a beautiful yellow colour.
+
+Malatapay is also yellow, or rather coffee-coloured, and is well
+veined for ornament.
+
+Lanete is a white wood, and is made use of for a variety of purposes.
+
+All the preceding woods are capable of being made into furniture of a
+very handsome and valuable description, and were they better known in
+Europe, would be largely employed for that purpose, as people would
+be willing to purchase them for their beauty, even at the high prices
+which the distance and expense of transit would occasion.
+
+Among the common useful woods for ship-building and other purposes,
+may be mentioned the banaba and mangachapuy: the latter does not
+stand water well, however.
+
+Yacal, for beams and joists of houses, &c., and a tall, straight
+wood, called _Palo Maria_, is valuable for supplying spars, &c.,
+to the shipping of the colony.
+
+Baticulin, for cutting up into boards or deals.
+
+Dungo unites strength and solidity to an immense size.
+
+Teak is found in Zamboanga, and its value is too well known to require
+any remark upon it.
+
+Ypil is brought to Manilla from Yloylo, and being a very lasting and
+hard timber, is of the greatest value, and is applied to a variety
+of uses.
+
+These are some of the many species of woods abounding in the country,
+whose number and value are yearly increasing as they become better
+known to the foreign timber merchants of China and elsewhere. The
+China market alone would take off greatly increased supplies, were
+they allowed to ship the timber from the ports next to where the
+woodman's axe had felled the tree, in place of forcing it to bear
+all the heavy charges which its transport to Manilla in the first
+instance now subjects it to.
+
+The investigations of Don Rafael Arenao have been of great service
+to me in forming a list of these; and for several other particulars
+scattered throughout the preceding pages I have to thank him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+The money current in the Philippines consists of Spanish and South
+American dollar pieces principally, although no two of them have
+precisely the same weight in silver. Thus the Chilian dollar of 1833
+had 456.24 grains of pure metal, while that of the Rio de la Plata
+has only 441.24 grains of silver.
+
+Nearly all the Mexican dollars differ in their quantity of pure silver;
+for example, that of the coinage of 1832 had only 442.80, while that
+of 1833 had 451.20 grains of pure metal. The old Spanish dollar has
+445.08 grains of pure silver, and the half dollar 222.48 grains;
+while the Bolivian half dollar has only 168.60 grains of pure silver;
+and the Bolivian quarter-dollar piece has only 84.84 grains of pure
+silver; while the standard Spanish quarter-piece contains 111.24
+grains of unalloyed silver.
+
+The golden doubloon, weighing an ounce, is worth sixteen dollars in
+Manilla, although it usually sells for considerably less in China.
+
+Both of these coins are subdivided into halves and quarter-pieces,
+and the dollar is divided into eight reals, one of which is
+equal to two and a half reals of the vellon money current in the
+Peninsula; and the Manilla real is represented by a copper currency
+of seventeen cuartos. In calculations, however, the real is divided
+into twelve parts by an imaginary coin called grains; so that by
+$3. 2. 6. would be understood three dollars, two reals, and a half
+real, or three dollars and five-sixteenth parts of a dollar.
+
+The copper money in circulation is so scanty, as to be perfectly
+inadequate for the purpose; and at the time of my leaving Manilla,
+the usual charge for exchanging a dollar for copper money was a
+quartillo, or the quarter of a real, worth about a penny halfpenny
+of English money.
+
+In consequence of this scarcity, the natives are in the habit of
+employing cigars as money, to represent the smaller coins; and all
+over the Philippines a cigar is actually the most important circulating
+medium, each representing a cuarto.
+
+At various times the scarcity of copper coins has given rise to
+extensive forgeries of them, and caused a considerable depreciation
+in their actual value, the false coinage being all of spurious metal.
+
+The gold which is found at Pictas, in Misamis, and at Mambalao,
+Paracala, and Surigao, is consumed in the country in ornaments, &c.,
+and some of it is sent also to China. The amount annually produced
+at these places is very uncertain; and the quantity exported to China
+is probably a good deal more than the amount set down in the tabular
+statement, it being a thing of so very easy export, that I should
+suppose at least an equal number of taels are sent there privately,
+to what appears in the table to have passed the Custom-house.
+
+Its value in Manilla varies, according to quality, at from twenty
+dollars a tael down to fourteen for the inferior sorts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+After travelling so far together, the reader will permit me to direct
+his attention to the geographical position and natural advantages of
+the Philippines, which are unequalled by any other islands in the whole
+eastern Archipelago. Their vicinity to the immensely populous empire
+of China is in itself enough to render them a most flourishing colony.
+
+The Spanish and local governments are alive to the importance of this,
+and appear desirous to encourage trade to a limited extent, but are
+apparently anxious to hold the reins of it, and to regulate it as they
+deem best for themselves, or at any time to put a stop to it entirely.
+
+The evils arising from the changeable elements given birth to by
+their interference it is difficult to over-estimate, as from the
+ignorance, which prevails through all classes, of the first elements
+of a commonwealth, and from their capricious notions of government, and
+want of knowledge of the advantages of liberality and of the facilities
+given to the prosecution of commerce, few persons of prudence care
+to expose their capital very extensively to the chances of trade.
+
+At present the Philippines want some infusion of foreign capital
+and energy into the veins and local arteries of the country, which,
+backed by the enlightened application of science, would cause these
+islands to emerge from the obscurity now surrounding them, and force
+them to assume the important position for which nature has apparently
+destined them.
+
+This will not come to pass until the present opinions of the Government
+and people are considerably changed with reference to their commercial
+legislation, or until all government interference in affairs of that
+nature is left off, so far as the interests of the revenue will permit,
+when the people will be insensibly but wisely taught by experience
+to rely upon themselves alone.
+
+The principles of commerce, and the wealth of nations, as laid
+down by Adam Smith in his great work, which is almost deserving of
+immortality for the truths it tells mankind, are as true and as sure
+in practice as they are in theory; and should the wisdom and truth
+of his investigations ever be applied to the commercial regulations
+of these islands, it is difficult to foretell the destiny that may
+ultimately await them.
+
+It appears to me to be as unwise to attempt to restrain the course of
+nature and its fruits, aided by the energies of man to develop or to
+use them, as it would be to bind down the mind of a man of genius,
+or of a poet, in order to prevent their operation, or to hinder the
+great conceptions of their muse, or the scientific research which a
+bright genius renders serviceable to his fellow mortals, from ever
+seeing the light. No one will defend the justice or wisdom of the
+time which forbade Galileo to publish, or even himself to believe in,
+his great discoveries; but is that more unjust than the policy of
+rulers, who shut up from the beings whom God has created to use them,
+the fruits of our common mother, the earth?
+
+It is equally absurd to prevent and to prohibit in either case;
+but notwithstanding this, the passions and prejudices of mankind are
+violent enough to permit of the one, although they would by no means
+suffer the other. Wisdom and passion can seldom or never accompany
+each other.
+
+Philanthropy will ultimately banish from our codes all such regulations
+as tend to check the fruitfulness of the soil and its use by man,
+who has been endowed with reason in order that he may assist the
+operations of nature. The constant and unrestricted use of the bounties
+of nature does not lead to their abuse; the contrary is the fact,
+for it is only when our appetites are excited by the obstacles to
+their attainment that they become excessively indulged and depraved.
+
+The illiberality of the Government places the existing position of
+foreigners in rather an equivocal position, for they are only there
+upon sufferance; and in the event of any disturbance, such as happened
+at Manilla in 1820, or of a war between the two nations, what would
+become of the foreigners or of their property?
+
+It has already been shown to the world that our fellow-subjects at
+Manilla in 1820, might be murdered in the streets like dogs, and no
+retribution be demanded by their Government; and to this day their
+personal liberty and property can at any time be endangered by the
+caprice of the Governor or of his subordinates.
+
+In 1848, an alcalde laid hold of a number of British subjects,
+and threw them suddenly into prison, because he happened one day to
+discover that the time for their permission to remain in the country
+had years ago expired, which all of them had been led to expect it was
+quite unnecessary to have renewed so long as they remained quiet and
+well-conducted members of the community. As the alcalde did not know
+very well what to do with them when he had got them into the jail,
+he kept them there for a few days till he had smoked a good deal,
+and thought a little about them, and then he told the jailor to let
+them out again.
+
+Our trade with China would be materially improved by the attention
+of Her Majesty's Foreign Secretary being directed to the position
+of the Philippines in connection with our own interests with them,
+and with the great empire adjoining them. Besides, it is a shame to
+ourselves that such things should exist in the colony, not only of
+a friendly European power, but of one so much indebted, as Spain is,
+to the valour of our arms for her independence, and to our liberality
+for possessing this colony at all.
+
+
+
+                            THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                  PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SON,
+ London Gazette Office, St. Martin's Lane; and Orchard Street,
+                          Westminster.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Recollections of Manilla and the
+Philippines, by Robert Mac Micking
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