CHAPTER XVI.

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, andsome 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 possessionof, 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. Forsome 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 achatta, 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 notshootingthe 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 aministroto 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 hadheard 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 forcarronading. 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 althoughthe 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.InPampangaprovince, the natives speak a distinct language, differing entirely from Tagaloc, quite as much as Welsh does from English, although many of thePampangans, on growing up, find it useful to know how to speak the Tagaloc, which most of them understand a little of.TheNegritos, who are found in some parts of the islands, are a peculiar race, with features exactly resembling the African negro, although ingeneral 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 arenothing 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 PhilippineIndians appear to be their hospitality, good-nature, andbonhommiewhich 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 thebancoof bamboo, a cigarillo, or thebuyo, 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 properlytowards 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 sununder 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 decoriGrosphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nec auro.Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternumSplendat in mensâ tenui salinum;Nec leves somnos timor aut CupidoSordidus aufert.Lætus in præsens animus, quod ultra estOderit curare, et amara lentoTemperet 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 chewingbuyos, or smoking cigarillos, quite at his ease, during the rest of the time.They have all a strong dislike to settling downto 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 generalpolicy. 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, therecan 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, eachfrom 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 andcheap 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 reallyhardlabourfor 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 ricelasts, 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-struckcultivators 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 theusurer 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 thebamboo, 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 entangledand 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 andtrousers, 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 principalsuppliers. 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 offeeding, 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 allowedto 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 beinggenerally 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 sometimesget 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 censusapparentlywith 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 muchgreater 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 numberof 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 theninastake considerable pains to understand thesubject, 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 ofdalagare 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 thedalagto be an intermediary between the reptile and the fish, although not naturalist enough to investigate the subject in a proper manner.

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, andsome 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 possessionof, 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. Forsome 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 achatta, 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 notshootingthe 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 aministroto 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 hadheard 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 forcarronading. 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.

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, andsome 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 possessionof, 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. Forsome 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 achatta, 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 notshootingthe 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 aministroto 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 hadheard 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 forcarronading. 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 althoughthe 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.InPampangaprovince, the natives speak a distinct language, differing entirely from Tagaloc, quite as much as Welsh does from English, although many of thePampangans, on growing up, find it useful to know how to speak the Tagaloc, which most of them understand a little of.TheNegritos, who are found in some parts of the islands, are a peculiar race, with features exactly resembling the African negro, although ingeneral 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 arenothing 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 PhilippineIndians appear to be their hospitality, good-nature, andbonhommiewhich 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 thebancoof bamboo, a cigarillo, or thebuyo, 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 properlytowards 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 sununder 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 decoriGrosphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nec auro.Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternumSplendat in mensâ tenui salinum;Nec leves somnos timor aut CupidoSordidus aufert.Lætus in præsens animus, quod ultra estOderit curare, et amara lentoTemperet risu, &c.——Hor.II. xvi.

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 althoughthe 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.

InPampangaprovince, the natives speak a distinct language, differing entirely from Tagaloc, quite as much as Welsh does from English, although many of thePampangans, on growing up, find it useful to know how to speak the Tagaloc, which most of them understand a little of.

TheNegritos, who are found in some parts of the islands, are a peculiar race, with features exactly resembling the African negro, although ingeneral 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 arenothing 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 PhilippineIndians appear to be their hospitality, good-nature, andbonhommiewhich 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 thebancoof bamboo, a cigarillo, or thebuyo, 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 properlytowards 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 sununder 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 decoriGrosphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nec auro.

Otium bello furiosa Thrace,Otium Medi pharetra decoriGrosphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nec auro.

Otium bello furiosa Thrace,

Otium Medi pharetra decori

Grosphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nec auro.

Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternumSplendat in mensâ tenui salinum;Nec leves somnos timor aut CupidoSordidus aufert.

Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternumSplendat in mensâ tenui salinum;Nec leves somnos timor aut CupidoSordidus aufert.

Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum

Splendat in mensâ tenui salinum;

Nec leves somnos timor aut Cupido

Sordidus aufert.

Lætus in præsens animus, quod ultra estOderit curare, et amara lentoTemperet risu, &c.——Hor.II. xvi.

Lætus in præsens animus, quod ultra estOderit curare, et amara lentoTemperet risu, &c.——Hor.II. xvi.

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 chewingbuyos, or smoking cigarillos, quite at his ease, during the rest of the time.They have all a strong dislike to settling downto 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 generalpolicy. 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, therecan 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, eachfrom 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 andcheap 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 reallyhardlabourfor 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 ricelasts, 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.

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 chewingbuyos, or smoking cigarillos, quite at his ease, during the rest of the time.

They have all a strong dislike to settling downto 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 generalpolicy. 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, therecan 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, eachfrom 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 andcheap 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 reallyhardlabourfor 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 ricelasts, 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-struckcultivators 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 theusurer 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 thebamboo, 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 entangledand 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.

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-struckcultivators 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 theusurer 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 thebamboo, 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 entangledand 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 andtrousers, 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 principalsuppliers. 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 offeeding, 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 allowedto 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 beinggenerally 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 sometimesget 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.

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 andtrousers, 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 principalsuppliers. 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 offeeding, 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 allowedto 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 beinggenerally 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 sometimesget 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 censusapparentlywith 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 muchgreater 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 numberof 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 theninastake considerable pains to understand thesubject, 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 ofdalagare 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 thedalagto be an intermediary between the reptile and the fish, although not naturalist enough to investigate the subject in a proper manner.

The population of the islands is very uncertain, for although the Government makes the censusapparentlywith 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 muchgreater 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 numberof 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 theninastake considerable pains to understand thesubject, 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 ofdalagare 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 thedalagto be an intermediary between the reptile and the fish, although not naturalist enough to investigate the subject in a proper manner.

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