Chapter XIX.

Chapter XIX.Life in Manila.(A Chapter for the Ladies.)Climate—Seasons—Terrible Month of May—Hot winds—Longing for rain—Burst of the monsoon—The Alimóom—Never sleep on the ground floor—Dress—Manila houses—Furniture—Mosquitoes—Baths—Gogo—Servants—Wages in 1892—The Maestro cook—The guild of cooks—The Mayordomo—Household budget, 1892—Diet—Drinks—Ponies—Carriage a necessity for a lady—The garden—Flowers—Shops—Pedlars—Amusements—Necessity of access to the hills—Good Friday in Manila.Climate.The average shade temperature of Manila all the year round is 83° Fahrenheit. The highest I have ever seen there was 96°, at 2P.M.in May, and the lowest 68°, at 6A.M.in December.The temperature of the sea-water on the shore at Malate is usually 82°, and that of well-water about the same. The water-pipes from the reservoir at San Juan del Monte are not buried, but are carried on an embankment. They are partly shaded from the sun by clumps of bamboos, but on a hot afternoon the water sometimes attains a temperature of 90°.Those figures are high, yet the heat is mitigated by the sea-breeze, and the nights are usually cool enough to allow a refreshing sleep.The climate of Manila is not harmful to the constitutions of healthy Europeans or Americans between twenty and fifty years of age, provided they at once adopt a mode of life suitable to the country, and in clothing, diet, habits and recreations, adapt themselves to the new conditions. On the other hand, I apprehend that, for persons of either sex over fifty who have had no previous experience of life in the tropics, there will be great difficulty in acclimatisingthemselves, and the mortality amongst such will be abnormal. Ladies’ complexions will not suffer more than if they lived in a steam-heated house in Harlem, New York.In all this part of the world the weather depends upon the monsoons. These blow with great regularity over the ocean, six months from the north-east and six months from the south-west. Their action on any particular place is, however, modified by the situation of mountains with regard to that place. The changes of the monsoon occur in April—May and October—November. It is the south-west monsoon that brings rain to Manila, and it has a fine stretch of the China Sea to career over, all the way, in fact, from the shores of Sumatra, till it drives the billows tumbling and foaming into the bay.The typhoons form far out in the Pacific near the region of the Western Carolines, and, whirling round the opposite way to the hands of a watch, they proceed on a curve that may strike Luzon, or, perhaps, go on for a thousand miles or more, and carry death and destruction to the fishermen of Fo Kien or Japan.When a typhoon passes clear, the usual result is several days of continuous heavy rain, but the air is cleared and purified. But should the vortex of the cyclone pass over your residence, you will not be likely to forget it for the rest of your life.The year in Manila may be roughly divided into three seasons:—Rainy Season—June, July, August, September. In these four months about 100 inches of rain may fall, and 20 more in the rest of the year.Cool Season (so-called)—October, November, December, January.Hot Season—February, March, April, May.May is the terrible month of the year, the month of fevers and funerals. Let all who can, leave Manila before this month arrives.Hot, dry winds, dust-laden, pervade the houses, and have such an effect even on well-seasoned hardwoods, that tables, wardrobes and door-panels, split from end to end, or from top to bottom, with a noise like a pistol-shot, leaving cracks a quarter of an inch wide that gape till the rainy season restores the moisture.At this time the heat is at its maximum, and all nature gasps or fades. Not a drop of rain has fallen for months, the roads are inches deep in dust, the rivers nearly stagnant, and covered with a green scum, the whole country quite brown, the vegetation burnt up by the sun. Only the cockroaches rejoice; at this season they fly at night, and you may have a few fine specimens of theBlatta Orientalisalight on your face, or on the back of your neck, should you doze a moment on your long chair. Personally, I am proof against a good deal, but must confess that the hairy feet of a cockroach on my face or neck make me shudder.As the month draws to a close, every afternoon the storm-clouds gather over the Antipolo Hills. All Manila, lying in the glare and dust, prays for rain. Overhead, a sky like burnished copper darts down heat-rays that penetrate the roofs, and literally strike the heads of the occupants. The dry air is surcharged with electricity to such an extent that every living thing feels the powerful influence; the sweetest natures become irritable, and quite ready to admit that “this is, indeed, abeastlyworld.”The nervous system suffers, the newspapers relate cases of stabbing, or even runningamokamongst the natives, and perhaps some suicides occur. If, as not unfrequently happens, you should at this time receive an invitation to the funeral of a friend or compatriot just deceased from typhoid fever, and to be buried within twenty-four hours, you will begin to wonder whether Manila is good enough for you. Day after day the rain-clouds disperse amidst the rumbling of a distant thunder-storm, and day after day do longing eyes watch for their coming, and hope for the cloud-burst.At last, when the limit of endurance seems reached, a cool breath of air heralds the downpour. The leaves rustle, the feathery bamboos incline before the blast, the sky darkens, the cataracts of heaven are loosed, and the water tumbles down in torrents.Now keep yourself in the house, and on the upper floor, and let the water from your roofs run to waste. The natives, usually so careless of a wetting, avoid bathing or wetting themselves with the first waters, which they consider dangerous, and not without reason. The exhalations from the newly-wetted earth are to be avoided; these earth-vapours are called by the TagalsAlimóom. Now the dust is washed off the roofs and leaves, and in threedays the fallows are covered with small shoots of grass or weeds, the maidenhair ferns and mosses spring from every stone wall. The reign of dust is over; the reign of mud begins. Now the frogs inaugurate their nightly concerts. After a time you get used to the deafening noise; you do not even hear it. But they suddenly stop, and you are astonished at the stillness.As the rainy season proceeds, the air is almost entirely saturated with moisture: the saturation in August sometimes exceeds 97 per cent.Now green mould will grow upon your boots and other leather articles, if left a couple of days without cleaning. Everything feels damp, and it is a good plan to air your wardrobe round a brazier of red-hot charcoal.You will have noticed that the natives universally build their houses upon piles. So do the Malays all over the Far East. This is the expression of the accumulated experience of centuries, and you will be wise to conform to it by never sleeping on the ground floor. To a dweller in the Philippines this tip is worth the price of the book.Dress.The dress of both sexes should be as light as possible; my advice is, wear as little as possible, and wear it thin and loose. The access of air to the body is necessary to carry off the perspiration, some of which is in the form of vapour.Ladies will find the greatest comfort in the simple but elegant dresses calledbatas, which are princess robes made of embroidered cambric or lawn. The materials for these dresses can be purchased in Manila, and excellent sempstresses and embroiderers can be hired at moderate wages, and the dresses made in the house. For the evenings, thin silk or muslin dresses, cut low, are most suitable.Author’s house at Ermita.Author’s house at Ermita.To face p. 177.Men who are young and robust should wear white duck jackets, and trousers without waistcoats. Elderly men, or those subject to rheumatism, will do well to wear thin flannel suits. The material for these can be got in Hong Kong. For travelling and shooting, unbleached linen, guingon, or rayadillo, is the best material, made into Norfolk jackets and pantaloons. I always found white or brown leather shoes the best wear, and canvas shooting-boots capped and strapped with leather. A Panama hat,or a solar topee, is the best head-wear. If one has to be much in the sun, a white umbrella, lined with green, should be carried. Dress is not an expensive item in Manila. Up to 1892, the washing for a whole family, with bed and table-linen, could be done for $12 per month.Houses.Most of the older houses in Manila are of ample size, and well suited to the climate, but some of the newer ones, built to the designs of a Spanish architect, and having glass windows, are very hot and uncomfortable. It is essential to live in a good-sized house, so as to escape the heat by moving to a different part as the sun goes round. Thus you will have your early breakfast in one corner of the balcony; your tiffin, perhaps, on the ground floor; your tea in the open corridor looking on the garden, and your dinner, at 7.30P.M., in the dining-room under the punkah.House-rent is paid monthly, and, up to 1892, a good detached house of moderate size could be got in one of the best suburbs for $100 per month, and for less in Santa Ana. Such a house would stand in its own garden, and would have stables for several horses, and shelter for one or two carriages.I understand that house-rent is now nearly doubled in consequence of the American competition. From their lavish expenditure, we must infer that the new-comers possess large private means in addition to their salaries.Furniture.The furnishing of a tropical house is much simplified, because no carpets or curtains are needed. The floors are of polished hardwood, and they take a good deal of work to keep them in good order. A few rugs can be put down here and there, if a little colour is required. Where the floor is bad, Chinese matting can be laid down at small expense. Some of the Mestizos import costly furniture, but few of the European residents attempted to follow their example. Vienna bent-wood furniture, with cane seats, was commonly used, and was very suitable, also bamboo or rattan furniture, brought from China or made in the country. Such things as wardrobes or bookcases should have ring-bolts on each side for lashing to the walls.A child or grown person might be killed by a heavy piece of furniture falling on it during an earthquake.Furniture of all sorts is made in Manila of Red Narra, or other wood, by Chinese cabinet-makers, who will work to purchasers’ requirements. Very excellent teak-wood furniture is made in Hong Kong and Shanghai.The problem of furnishing a large house for a moderate sum, and making it comfortable, and at the same time artistic and refined, is not a difficult one, and has often been very satisfactorily solved in Manila.Large stoneware flower-pots and pedestals can be purchased in Manila, and no more suitable ornament can be found than handsome palms, ferns, or flowering plants, for halls, corridors, or reception rooms.The beds should be large, and have thin, hard mattresses and horse-hair pillows stuffed rather hard. The coolest thing to lie upon is a fine grass mat, orpetate. Covering is seldom required. On the bed will be seen a large bolster lying at right angles to the pillows, so as to be parallel to the sleeper. The use of this is not apparent to the newly-arrived Briton or American. This is theAbrazador, used throughout the boundless East.The candidate for repose, whether on the hard bed, or harder floor or deck, lies on his side, and rests his upper arm and leg on theAbrazador, thus relieving his hip and shoulder from much of his weight. He takes care to keep it a little way off his body to allow the air to circulate.A mosquito-net must be fitted to every bed, but may not always be required. In the sleeping-room there should be no curtains, and the least possible amount of furniture, and, during the hot season, the bed should stand in the middle of the room. It is advisable to have no light in the bedroom, but good lights are a necessity in the dressing-rooms.By being careful about this you will keep your bedroom free from mosquitoes. Petroleum is commonly used in the Philippines for lighting, and unless the lamps are of the best quality, and carefully trimmed, there is considerable danger of accident. I used to keep some plants in pots in each room so as to throw the earth over any oil that might get alight. Whenever there was a shock of earthquake, I extinguished the petroleum lamps, and lighted candles instead. And whenever we went out to a dinner or dance, every petroleum lamp was extinguished, and cocoanut-oillights or candles substituted in case of an earthquake whilst we were out.Frequent baths are indispensable to good health in Manila. Enormous earthenware tubs, made in China, can be procured. These are placed in the bath-room, and filled in the evening, so that the water gets refreshingly cool during the night. It is not at all advisable to get into the water, as the effect is not so good as dashing the water over the head with a small bucket called atabo. By using the water thus, and rubbing the skin briskly with a towel, a reaction soon sets in, and the bather feels quite invigorated.A bath of this kind when rising, and another before dressing for dinner, will do much to mitigate the rigour of the climate.From several stories told me by friends recently returned from Manila, it would seem that the Americans there, or some of them, at least, are not sufficiently alive to the necessity of daily baths, but I refrain from giving particulars.This seems strange when one remembers the profusion with which baths are provided in all the modern hotels in the great cities of America.Now I must tell you about gogo. This is the dried bark of a creeper that grows wild in the woods, and it is the finest thing possible to keep your hair in order.There are several kinds of this plant, the three most commonly used are gogo bayugo (Entada scandensBenth.); gogong casay (Peltophorum ferrugineumBenth.); gogong paltaning (Albizzia saponariaBlum.).As washing the hair with gogo is one of the luxuries of the Philippines, I shall describe how it is done.A servant pounds a piece of the stem and bark, and steeps it in a basin, twisting and wringing it occasionally until the soluble part has been extracted. He then adds to the liquor two or three limes, squeezing the juice out, and soaking the peel. He also throws in a handful of crushed citron-leaves, and strains the liquor through muslin.The servant then ladles this over your head with a calabash, or cocoa-nut shell, whilst you rub your hair with your hands.As the liquor is strongly alkaline, you must be careful to keep your eyes closed until the head has been rinsedwith water. Your hair-wash is made fresh whenever you want it, and may cost from two to three pence.The fragrance of the citron-leaves is delicious, and when you have rinsed and dried your hair, you will find it as soft, as bright, and as sweet-smelling as the costliest perfumes of Bond Street could make it.Servants.In the good old times we were well off for servants in Manila. They flocked up from the provinces seeking places, and those employers who took pains to enquire closely into the antecedents of applicants, could almost ensure being well served.Englishmen paid good wages, and paid punctually, hence they could command the best servants.Personally, I may say that I kept my servants for years—some nearly the whole time I was in the islands. I had very little trouble with any of them. There are people who say that they have no feeling, but I remember that when I embarked with my family on leaving Manila, my servants, on taking leave at the wharf, were convulsed with tears at our departure.A family living comfortably in a good-sized house would require the following servants:—Wages in 1892.Dollars.Mayordomo, or steward, who would act as butler8 per month.Two houseboys, one would valet the master, the other would trim lamps and pull the punkah, @ $612 per month.Sempstress or maid to mistress6 per month.Gardener or coolie, would carry water for baths, sweep and water6 per month.Coachman, would look after one pair of horses and carriage12 per month.Food for six servants, @ $3 each18 per month.Maestro cook18 per month.80American competition for servants has more than doubled these rates of pay. Cooks get $50 now.The house-boys and maid live in the house, and sleep on the floor, with a grass mat and pillows. The mayordomo sometimes lives quite near, being, perhaps, a marriedman. The coachman has his room by the stables, and the gardener lives in the lodge, or in a small hut in the garden.Themaestro-cookdoes not usually sleep on the premises. He arrives about 11A.M., bearing two baskets depending from apinga, or palma-brava staff, resting on his shoulder. These baskets will contain the day’s marketing—eggs, fish, meat, chicken, salad, tomatoes, bananas, firewood, and many other things.He promptly sets to work, and by twelve, or half-past, presents a tiffin of three or four courses.His afternoon is devoted to preparing the more elaborate dinner due at 7.30P.M., when he will be ready to serve soup, fish, entrées, a roast, a curry, and sweets, all conscientiously prepared, and sent in hot. Most excellent curries are made in Manila, both by Chinamen and natives. To my mind, the best are made from prawns, from crab, or from frogs’ legs. If you cannot eat anything else at dinner, you can always make out with the curry.The dinner over, the cook asks for orders, and takes his departure, to return with perfect punctuality the following day.The Chinese cooks all belong to a guild, which is a trades’ union and a co-operative society, and are bound to follow the rules.They would never dream of going into a market and bidding one against the other.Their system is to assemble early every morning at the guild house, and for each man to state his requirements. A scribe then tabulates the orders—so many turkeys, so many chickens, etc., and two experienced cooks are commissioned as buyers to go into the market and purchase the whole lot, the provisions being afterwards fairly divided amongst the members, each having his turn to get the choice pieces, such as saddle of mutton, kidneys, etc. But if a dinner-party is contemplated, the cook who has to prepare it gets the preference.They thus obtain everything much cheaper than the native cooks, even after taking a good squeeze for themselves. I believe that they have a fixed percentage which they charge, and would consider it dishonest to take any more, whilst the guild would not approve of their taking any less.If you send away your cook, the guild will settle foryou who is to replace him. All your culinary fancies will be well known to the council of the guild, and they will pick out a man up to your standard.It was customary to give the cook a fixed sum per day to provide tiffin and dinner, and this was paid once a week.I found that two dollars a day was sufficient to amply provide for my family, and I could have one guest to tiffin or dinner without notice, and be confident that the meal would be sufficient. In fact, this was part of my agreement with the cook. By giving short notice, the dinner could be extended for two or three people at an additional charge.The cook rendered no account of the money he received; but, if I was not satisfied with the meals he provided, I admonished him, and if he did not do better I discharged him. I may say, however, that there was very seldom cause for complaint, for the Chinese are thorough business men.When a dinner-party was given, the cook provided according to order, and sent in his bill for the extras. There was no housekeeping, and no need to order anything, and you knew exactly how much you were spending weekly, and how much a dinner-party cost.The cleaning and polishing your plate and glass, the laying the table, the tasteful adorning of it with variegated leaves, with ferns or flowers, and the artistic folding of the serviettes, may with confidence be left to the mayordomo’s care; every detail will be attended to down to the ylang-ylang flowers in the finger-bowls.With such servants as these, the mistress of the house, free from domestic cares, may take her shower-bath, and, clad in Kabaya and Sarong, await the moment when she must resume the garments of civilisation, and receive her guests looking as fresh, in spite of the thermometer, as if she had stepped out of acoupéin Piccadilly or Fifth Avenue. Ladies used to the ministry of Irish Biddy or Aunt Chloe ought to fancy themselves transported to heaven when they find themselves at the head of a household in Manila.I append a note of household expenses for a family living moderately in Manila in 1892. I suppose the cost has been doubled under American rule.Household Budget in 1892.For a family of three adults and three children.Mexican Dollars.House-rentper month100Servants’ wages and foodper month80Washingper month12Forage and grain for two poniesper month16Allowance to cook for marketper month60Extra for two dinner-parties of six or eight guests eachper month20Bill at Almacen (grocery store) for groceries, ordinary wines, spirits, and petroleumper month65Bill at Botica (drug store) for soda water, ice and various articlesper month20Case of champagne for dinner-partiesper month25Repairs to carriage, shoeing horses, materials for cleaning stable, etc.per month10Garden expenses—plants, tools, hoseper month5Subscriptions to clubs, telephone, newspapers, and charitiesper month20Tobacco and cigarsper month7Taxes on servants and horsesper month10Clothing for self and familyper month50Pocket money, entertainments, and sundriesper month100——Per month600Say $7,200 per annum.Diet.For the benefit of Boston readers (if I should be lucky enough to have any in that learned city), I may say that pork and beans is not a suitable diet for a tropical country. I should also forbid the “New England dinner,” and roast goose, or sucking pig, stewed terrapin, and pumpkin pie. A light diet of eggs or the excellent fish to be had in Manila, chickens fattened on maize, beef or mutton, once a day, and rice, vegetables and salad, with plenty of ripe fruit, according to the season, is desirable. The fare can be diversified by oysters, prawns, crabs, wild duck, snipe, and quail, all of which are cheap and very good in the season. There are no pheasants in Luzon, but the jungle cock (labuyao) is as good or better.In the tropics a good table is a necessity, for the appetite needs tempting. Such a diet as I have mentioned will keep you in health, especially if you are careful not to eat too much, but to eat of the best. If you economise on your table you will have to spend the money at thedrug-store. Taboo pork, because—well, when you have been a week or two in the country you will not need to ask why—Moses and Mahomet knew what they were about.My remarks about drinks are intended for the men, as ladies do not need any advice on this subject. In a tropical climate it is necessary to be very careful in the use of spirits.Having lived for more than twenty-five years in the tropics, and having kept my health remarkably well, I feel warranted in giving my experience. I have made surveys, or directed works, in many climates, exposed to all weathers, and I know that the very worst thing a man can take, if he has to work or march in the sun, is spirits. There is nothing that will predispose him to sunstroke as much as spirits. For marching, walking, or shooting, in the sun, I know nothing like cold tea without milk or sugar. It should be poured off the leaves after infusing for two minutes.When you reach shelter you can take a lemon squash or acagelada—this is the juice of cageles (a kind of orange) with sugar and water—which is a most cooling drink. Never take spirits to buck you up to your work. Whatever spirits you drink, let it be after sunset. I am a believer in drinking wine at meals; it makes me shudder to see people drinking tea, lemonade, or milk, with their dinners, and laying up for themselves torments from dyspepsia, for which they have to swallow pills by the boxful.Ponies.There is a race of ponies in the islands that is descended from Spanish and Arab horses, and owing to an absolutely haphazard breeding, the size has diminished, although the symmetry has been preserved. Those from Ilocos are the smallest, but they are the hardiest and most spirited.A pair of ponies and a Victoria is an absolute necessity for a lady in Manila, and I have little doubt that an American judge would declare the “failure to provide” to be cruelty and grant a divorce if applied for.Both harness and carriages are made in the city, but imported harness can be had, better finished, at double the price.Fernery at Ermita.Fernery at Ermita.To face p. 185.In my time a fine pair of ponies could be bought for$200 to $300; a new Victoria for $500, and harness for $60. The cost of keeping a pair of ponies was $16 per month, and a coachman $12 per month, food, and livery. What the cost is now I have no information.The public carriages were not fit for a lady to use, though sometimes a suitable one could be hired by the week or month from a livery stable.The ponies are wonderfully strong and sure-footed. I weigh over 200 lbs., yet some of these ponies have carried me about all day over rough ground without stumbling. They carry a lady beautifully, and riding is the best form of exercise a lady can take.The Garden.The garden will be a great source of occupation to the mistress of the house. If it is sheltered from the wind and supplied with water, she can grow almost anything. And plants will come up quickly, too, under the influence of the heat and moisture.There are nursery gardens at Pasay, where all sorts of plants and seedlings can be obtained; in fact, these are hawked about morning and evening.The so-called gardener rarely has much skill, but he will clean up the garden and water it, and do what he is told.The most beautiful and delicate ferns can be grown, and magnificent orchids got to flower, if they are well sheltered in a mat-shed. Bananas and pines grow without trouble, and radishes, salads, tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons, can be raised.Shops.You can get most things you want in Manila. The drug-stores are mostly in German hands, but there is one English one where the usual English articles can be got.There is an ample supply of wines, spirits, and preserved provisions at the grocers, and the drapers keep on hand any quantity of silks, muslins, and piece-goods, with all the necessary fixings. French and German shoes are in plenty.The goods in the jewellers’ shops and in the fancy bazaars are all of a very florid style, to suit the gaudy taste of the wealthy Filipinos.Such piece-goods and haberdashery as are in common use are brought round to the ladies at their own houses by Chinese hawkers, who, having small expenses, sell remarkably cheap.They are always very civil and attentive, and will gladly get you any article that they have not in stock at the moment.Ladies save going about in the heat and dust by purchasing from these men.Amusements.The amusements for ladies were limited to riding, lawn-tennis, boating, picnics, and frequent dances. I remember many delightful dances in Manila. One was given to the officers of the U.S.S.Brooklyn, and another to the U.S.S.Richmond. At the latter, the ladies were intraje del pais,i.e., dressed as natives and mestizas. And very handsome some of them looked. Now and again some theatrical company would come over, mostly from Saigon. There were a good many dinner parties given amongst the British community, and weekly receptions at most of the principal houses, during the time I lived in Manila, where you could get a little game of cards, dance, flirt, or take it easy, just as you liked.The ladies very wisely took a rest from two to four, to be fresh for the evening. The proper hour for calling was at 9 P.M. or 10 A.M. on Sundays after High Mass.I knew several ladies, English and American, who look back upon a term of years spent in Manila as the happiest in their lives.Children born in Manila can remain there without damage to their health till ten or twelve years old, and after having spent a few years at home are indistinguishable from children born and brought up in England.The principal thing lacking in Manila is means of access to the hills where people could go occasionally for a change and during the hot season. I have little doubt that the Americans will provide this before long.Manila was not without its frivolous element; but there was one period of the year when all frivolities were suspended, and religious observances monopolised the people’s time. That was in Lent, and the ceremonies culminated on Good Friday.The Very Noble and always Loyal City of Manila celebrates the greatest day of the Christian year very devoutly. On foot, and robed in black, its inhabitants high and low throng the churches and attend the procession.All shops are closed, vehicular traffic is suspended, the ensigns hang at half-mast, the yards of ships are crossed in saltire; not a sound is heard.The capital and the whole of the civilised Philippines mark the crucifixion of our Saviour by two days of devotion, of solemn calm. Under Spanish rule a stately procession, attended by the highest and the humblest, filed slowly through the silent streets, the Civil Government, the Law, the Army, the Navy, the Municipality and the Religious Orders, being represented by deputations in full dress, who followed bare-headed the emblems of the faith in the presence of an immense crowd of natives, who bent the knee and bowed the head in homage to the crucified Saviour.I never failed to witness this imposing spectacle when in Manila, and it was mortifying to me to remember that Good Friday in London is nothing but a vulgar holiday, and that probably not one person out of a hundred in its vast population realises in the least degree the event that solemn fast is intended to commemorate.The death-like stillness of Good Friday remained unbroken till High Mass was over on Saturday morning, when the cathedral bells rang out a joyous peal, soon taken up by the bells of the numerous churches in the city and all over the provinces.The ensigns were run up to the staff or peak, the yards were squared, and royal salutes thundered out over land and sea, whilst clouds of white smoke enveloped the moss-grown ramparts of the saluting battery, and the useless, lumbering masts and spars of the flagship. Then steam-whistles and sirens commenced their hideous din, the great doors of the houses were thrown open, and hundreds of bare-backed ponies, with half-naked grooms, issued at full gallop to the sea or river.Then Manila resumed its every-day life till the next Holy Thursday came round.

Climate—Seasons—Terrible Month of May—Hot winds—Longing for rain—Burst of the monsoon—The Alimóom—Never sleep on the ground floor—Dress—Manila houses—Furniture—Mosquitoes—Baths—Gogo—Servants—Wages in 1892—The Maestro cook—The guild of cooks—The Mayordomo—Household budget, 1892—Diet—Drinks—Ponies—Carriage a necessity for a lady—The garden—Flowers—Shops—Pedlars—Amusements—Necessity of access to the hills—Good Friday in Manila.

Climate.The average shade temperature of Manila all the year round is 83° Fahrenheit. The highest I have ever seen there was 96°, at 2P.M.in May, and the lowest 68°, at 6A.M.in December.The temperature of the sea-water on the shore at Malate is usually 82°, and that of well-water about the same. The water-pipes from the reservoir at San Juan del Monte are not buried, but are carried on an embankment. They are partly shaded from the sun by clumps of bamboos, but on a hot afternoon the water sometimes attains a temperature of 90°.Those figures are high, yet the heat is mitigated by the sea-breeze, and the nights are usually cool enough to allow a refreshing sleep.The climate of Manila is not harmful to the constitutions of healthy Europeans or Americans between twenty and fifty years of age, provided they at once adopt a mode of life suitable to the country, and in clothing, diet, habits and recreations, adapt themselves to the new conditions. On the other hand, I apprehend that, for persons of either sex over fifty who have had no previous experience of life in the tropics, there will be great difficulty in acclimatisingthemselves, and the mortality amongst such will be abnormal. Ladies’ complexions will not suffer more than if they lived in a steam-heated house in Harlem, New York.In all this part of the world the weather depends upon the monsoons. These blow with great regularity over the ocean, six months from the north-east and six months from the south-west. Their action on any particular place is, however, modified by the situation of mountains with regard to that place. The changes of the monsoon occur in April—May and October—November. It is the south-west monsoon that brings rain to Manila, and it has a fine stretch of the China Sea to career over, all the way, in fact, from the shores of Sumatra, till it drives the billows tumbling and foaming into the bay.The typhoons form far out in the Pacific near the region of the Western Carolines, and, whirling round the opposite way to the hands of a watch, they proceed on a curve that may strike Luzon, or, perhaps, go on for a thousand miles or more, and carry death and destruction to the fishermen of Fo Kien or Japan.When a typhoon passes clear, the usual result is several days of continuous heavy rain, but the air is cleared and purified. But should the vortex of the cyclone pass over your residence, you will not be likely to forget it for the rest of your life.The year in Manila may be roughly divided into three seasons:—Rainy Season—June, July, August, September. In these four months about 100 inches of rain may fall, and 20 more in the rest of the year.Cool Season (so-called)—October, November, December, January.Hot Season—February, March, April, May.May is the terrible month of the year, the month of fevers and funerals. Let all who can, leave Manila before this month arrives.Hot, dry winds, dust-laden, pervade the houses, and have such an effect even on well-seasoned hardwoods, that tables, wardrobes and door-panels, split from end to end, or from top to bottom, with a noise like a pistol-shot, leaving cracks a quarter of an inch wide that gape till the rainy season restores the moisture.At this time the heat is at its maximum, and all nature gasps or fades. Not a drop of rain has fallen for months, the roads are inches deep in dust, the rivers nearly stagnant, and covered with a green scum, the whole country quite brown, the vegetation burnt up by the sun. Only the cockroaches rejoice; at this season they fly at night, and you may have a few fine specimens of theBlatta Orientalisalight on your face, or on the back of your neck, should you doze a moment on your long chair. Personally, I am proof against a good deal, but must confess that the hairy feet of a cockroach on my face or neck make me shudder.As the month draws to a close, every afternoon the storm-clouds gather over the Antipolo Hills. All Manila, lying in the glare and dust, prays for rain. Overhead, a sky like burnished copper darts down heat-rays that penetrate the roofs, and literally strike the heads of the occupants. The dry air is surcharged with electricity to such an extent that every living thing feels the powerful influence; the sweetest natures become irritable, and quite ready to admit that “this is, indeed, abeastlyworld.”The nervous system suffers, the newspapers relate cases of stabbing, or even runningamokamongst the natives, and perhaps some suicides occur. If, as not unfrequently happens, you should at this time receive an invitation to the funeral of a friend or compatriot just deceased from typhoid fever, and to be buried within twenty-four hours, you will begin to wonder whether Manila is good enough for you. Day after day the rain-clouds disperse amidst the rumbling of a distant thunder-storm, and day after day do longing eyes watch for their coming, and hope for the cloud-burst.At last, when the limit of endurance seems reached, a cool breath of air heralds the downpour. The leaves rustle, the feathery bamboos incline before the blast, the sky darkens, the cataracts of heaven are loosed, and the water tumbles down in torrents.Now keep yourself in the house, and on the upper floor, and let the water from your roofs run to waste. The natives, usually so careless of a wetting, avoid bathing or wetting themselves with the first waters, which they consider dangerous, and not without reason. The exhalations from the newly-wetted earth are to be avoided; these earth-vapours are called by the TagalsAlimóom. Now the dust is washed off the roofs and leaves, and in threedays the fallows are covered with small shoots of grass or weeds, the maidenhair ferns and mosses spring from every stone wall. The reign of dust is over; the reign of mud begins. Now the frogs inaugurate their nightly concerts. After a time you get used to the deafening noise; you do not even hear it. But they suddenly stop, and you are astonished at the stillness.As the rainy season proceeds, the air is almost entirely saturated with moisture: the saturation in August sometimes exceeds 97 per cent.Now green mould will grow upon your boots and other leather articles, if left a couple of days without cleaning. Everything feels damp, and it is a good plan to air your wardrobe round a brazier of red-hot charcoal.You will have noticed that the natives universally build their houses upon piles. So do the Malays all over the Far East. This is the expression of the accumulated experience of centuries, and you will be wise to conform to it by never sleeping on the ground floor. To a dweller in the Philippines this tip is worth the price of the book.

Climate.

The average shade temperature of Manila all the year round is 83° Fahrenheit. The highest I have ever seen there was 96°, at 2P.M.in May, and the lowest 68°, at 6A.M.in December.The temperature of the sea-water on the shore at Malate is usually 82°, and that of well-water about the same. The water-pipes from the reservoir at San Juan del Monte are not buried, but are carried on an embankment. They are partly shaded from the sun by clumps of bamboos, but on a hot afternoon the water sometimes attains a temperature of 90°.Those figures are high, yet the heat is mitigated by the sea-breeze, and the nights are usually cool enough to allow a refreshing sleep.The climate of Manila is not harmful to the constitutions of healthy Europeans or Americans between twenty and fifty years of age, provided they at once adopt a mode of life suitable to the country, and in clothing, diet, habits and recreations, adapt themselves to the new conditions. On the other hand, I apprehend that, for persons of either sex over fifty who have had no previous experience of life in the tropics, there will be great difficulty in acclimatisingthemselves, and the mortality amongst such will be abnormal. Ladies’ complexions will not suffer more than if they lived in a steam-heated house in Harlem, New York.In all this part of the world the weather depends upon the monsoons. These blow with great regularity over the ocean, six months from the north-east and six months from the south-west. Their action on any particular place is, however, modified by the situation of mountains with regard to that place. The changes of the monsoon occur in April—May and October—November. It is the south-west monsoon that brings rain to Manila, and it has a fine stretch of the China Sea to career over, all the way, in fact, from the shores of Sumatra, till it drives the billows tumbling and foaming into the bay.The typhoons form far out in the Pacific near the region of the Western Carolines, and, whirling round the opposite way to the hands of a watch, they proceed on a curve that may strike Luzon, or, perhaps, go on for a thousand miles or more, and carry death and destruction to the fishermen of Fo Kien or Japan.When a typhoon passes clear, the usual result is several days of continuous heavy rain, but the air is cleared and purified. But should the vortex of the cyclone pass over your residence, you will not be likely to forget it for the rest of your life.The year in Manila may be roughly divided into three seasons:—Rainy Season—June, July, August, September. In these four months about 100 inches of rain may fall, and 20 more in the rest of the year.Cool Season (so-called)—October, November, December, January.Hot Season—February, March, April, May.May is the terrible month of the year, the month of fevers and funerals. Let all who can, leave Manila before this month arrives.Hot, dry winds, dust-laden, pervade the houses, and have such an effect even on well-seasoned hardwoods, that tables, wardrobes and door-panels, split from end to end, or from top to bottom, with a noise like a pistol-shot, leaving cracks a quarter of an inch wide that gape till the rainy season restores the moisture.At this time the heat is at its maximum, and all nature gasps or fades. Not a drop of rain has fallen for months, the roads are inches deep in dust, the rivers nearly stagnant, and covered with a green scum, the whole country quite brown, the vegetation burnt up by the sun. Only the cockroaches rejoice; at this season they fly at night, and you may have a few fine specimens of theBlatta Orientalisalight on your face, or on the back of your neck, should you doze a moment on your long chair. Personally, I am proof against a good deal, but must confess that the hairy feet of a cockroach on my face or neck make me shudder.As the month draws to a close, every afternoon the storm-clouds gather over the Antipolo Hills. All Manila, lying in the glare and dust, prays for rain. Overhead, a sky like burnished copper darts down heat-rays that penetrate the roofs, and literally strike the heads of the occupants. The dry air is surcharged with electricity to such an extent that every living thing feels the powerful influence; the sweetest natures become irritable, and quite ready to admit that “this is, indeed, abeastlyworld.”The nervous system suffers, the newspapers relate cases of stabbing, or even runningamokamongst the natives, and perhaps some suicides occur. If, as not unfrequently happens, you should at this time receive an invitation to the funeral of a friend or compatriot just deceased from typhoid fever, and to be buried within twenty-four hours, you will begin to wonder whether Manila is good enough for you. Day after day the rain-clouds disperse amidst the rumbling of a distant thunder-storm, and day after day do longing eyes watch for their coming, and hope for the cloud-burst.At last, when the limit of endurance seems reached, a cool breath of air heralds the downpour. The leaves rustle, the feathery bamboos incline before the blast, the sky darkens, the cataracts of heaven are loosed, and the water tumbles down in torrents.Now keep yourself in the house, and on the upper floor, and let the water from your roofs run to waste. The natives, usually so careless of a wetting, avoid bathing or wetting themselves with the first waters, which they consider dangerous, and not without reason. The exhalations from the newly-wetted earth are to be avoided; these earth-vapours are called by the TagalsAlimóom. Now the dust is washed off the roofs and leaves, and in threedays the fallows are covered with small shoots of grass or weeds, the maidenhair ferns and mosses spring from every stone wall. The reign of dust is over; the reign of mud begins. Now the frogs inaugurate their nightly concerts. After a time you get used to the deafening noise; you do not even hear it. But they suddenly stop, and you are astonished at the stillness.As the rainy season proceeds, the air is almost entirely saturated with moisture: the saturation in August sometimes exceeds 97 per cent.Now green mould will grow upon your boots and other leather articles, if left a couple of days without cleaning. Everything feels damp, and it is a good plan to air your wardrobe round a brazier of red-hot charcoal.You will have noticed that the natives universally build their houses upon piles. So do the Malays all over the Far East. This is the expression of the accumulated experience of centuries, and you will be wise to conform to it by never sleeping on the ground floor. To a dweller in the Philippines this tip is worth the price of the book.

The average shade temperature of Manila all the year round is 83° Fahrenheit. The highest I have ever seen there was 96°, at 2P.M.in May, and the lowest 68°, at 6A.M.in December.

The temperature of the sea-water on the shore at Malate is usually 82°, and that of well-water about the same. The water-pipes from the reservoir at San Juan del Monte are not buried, but are carried on an embankment. They are partly shaded from the sun by clumps of bamboos, but on a hot afternoon the water sometimes attains a temperature of 90°.

Those figures are high, yet the heat is mitigated by the sea-breeze, and the nights are usually cool enough to allow a refreshing sleep.

The climate of Manila is not harmful to the constitutions of healthy Europeans or Americans between twenty and fifty years of age, provided they at once adopt a mode of life suitable to the country, and in clothing, diet, habits and recreations, adapt themselves to the new conditions. On the other hand, I apprehend that, for persons of either sex over fifty who have had no previous experience of life in the tropics, there will be great difficulty in acclimatisingthemselves, and the mortality amongst such will be abnormal. Ladies’ complexions will not suffer more than if they lived in a steam-heated house in Harlem, New York.

In all this part of the world the weather depends upon the monsoons. These blow with great regularity over the ocean, six months from the north-east and six months from the south-west. Their action on any particular place is, however, modified by the situation of mountains with regard to that place. The changes of the monsoon occur in April—May and October—November. It is the south-west monsoon that brings rain to Manila, and it has a fine stretch of the China Sea to career over, all the way, in fact, from the shores of Sumatra, till it drives the billows tumbling and foaming into the bay.

The typhoons form far out in the Pacific near the region of the Western Carolines, and, whirling round the opposite way to the hands of a watch, they proceed on a curve that may strike Luzon, or, perhaps, go on for a thousand miles or more, and carry death and destruction to the fishermen of Fo Kien or Japan.

When a typhoon passes clear, the usual result is several days of continuous heavy rain, but the air is cleared and purified. But should the vortex of the cyclone pass over your residence, you will not be likely to forget it for the rest of your life.

The year in Manila may be roughly divided into three seasons:—

May is the terrible month of the year, the month of fevers and funerals. Let all who can, leave Manila before this month arrives.

Hot, dry winds, dust-laden, pervade the houses, and have such an effect even on well-seasoned hardwoods, that tables, wardrobes and door-panels, split from end to end, or from top to bottom, with a noise like a pistol-shot, leaving cracks a quarter of an inch wide that gape till the rainy season restores the moisture.

At this time the heat is at its maximum, and all nature gasps or fades. Not a drop of rain has fallen for months, the roads are inches deep in dust, the rivers nearly stagnant, and covered with a green scum, the whole country quite brown, the vegetation burnt up by the sun. Only the cockroaches rejoice; at this season they fly at night, and you may have a few fine specimens of theBlatta Orientalisalight on your face, or on the back of your neck, should you doze a moment on your long chair. Personally, I am proof against a good deal, but must confess that the hairy feet of a cockroach on my face or neck make me shudder.

As the month draws to a close, every afternoon the storm-clouds gather over the Antipolo Hills. All Manila, lying in the glare and dust, prays for rain. Overhead, a sky like burnished copper darts down heat-rays that penetrate the roofs, and literally strike the heads of the occupants. The dry air is surcharged with electricity to such an extent that every living thing feels the powerful influence; the sweetest natures become irritable, and quite ready to admit that “this is, indeed, abeastlyworld.”

The nervous system suffers, the newspapers relate cases of stabbing, or even runningamokamongst the natives, and perhaps some suicides occur. If, as not unfrequently happens, you should at this time receive an invitation to the funeral of a friend or compatriot just deceased from typhoid fever, and to be buried within twenty-four hours, you will begin to wonder whether Manila is good enough for you. Day after day the rain-clouds disperse amidst the rumbling of a distant thunder-storm, and day after day do longing eyes watch for their coming, and hope for the cloud-burst.

At last, when the limit of endurance seems reached, a cool breath of air heralds the downpour. The leaves rustle, the feathery bamboos incline before the blast, the sky darkens, the cataracts of heaven are loosed, and the water tumbles down in torrents.

Now keep yourself in the house, and on the upper floor, and let the water from your roofs run to waste. The natives, usually so careless of a wetting, avoid bathing or wetting themselves with the first waters, which they consider dangerous, and not without reason. The exhalations from the newly-wetted earth are to be avoided; these earth-vapours are called by the TagalsAlimóom. Now the dust is washed off the roofs and leaves, and in threedays the fallows are covered with small shoots of grass or weeds, the maidenhair ferns and mosses spring from every stone wall. The reign of dust is over; the reign of mud begins. Now the frogs inaugurate their nightly concerts. After a time you get used to the deafening noise; you do not even hear it. But they suddenly stop, and you are astonished at the stillness.

As the rainy season proceeds, the air is almost entirely saturated with moisture: the saturation in August sometimes exceeds 97 per cent.

Now green mould will grow upon your boots and other leather articles, if left a couple of days without cleaning. Everything feels damp, and it is a good plan to air your wardrobe round a brazier of red-hot charcoal.

You will have noticed that the natives universally build their houses upon piles. So do the Malays all over the Far East. This is the expression of the accumulated experience of centuries, and you will be wise to conform to it by never sleeping on the ground floor. To a dweller in the Philippines this tip is worth the price of the book.

Dress.The dress of both sexes should be as light as possible; my advice is, wear as little as possible, and wear it thin and loose. The access of air to the body is necessary to carry off the perspiration, some of which is in the form of vapour.Ladies will find the greatest comfort in the simple but elegant dresses calledbatas, which are princess robes made of embroidered cambric or lawn. The materials for these dresses can be purchased in Manila, and excellent sempstresses and embroiderers can be hired at moderate wages, and the dresses made in the house. For the evenings, thin silk or muslin dresses, cut low, are most suitable.Author’s house at Ermita.Author’s house at Ermita.To face p. 177.Men who are young and robust should wear white duck jackets, and trousers without waistcoats. Elderly men, or those subject to rheumatism, will do well to wear thin flannel suits. The material for these can be got in Hong Kong. For travelling and shooting, unbleached linen, guingon, or rayadillo, is the best material, made into Norfolk jackets and pantaloons. I always found white or brown leather shoes the best wear, and canvas shooting-boots capped and strapped with leather. A Panama hat,or a solar topee, is the best head-wear. If one has to be much in the sun, a white umbrella, lined with green, should be carried. Dress is not an expensive item in Manila. Up to 1892, the washing for a whole family, with bed and table-linen, could be done for $12 per month.

Dress.

The dress of both sexes should be as light as possible; my advice is, wear as little as possible, and wear it thin and loose. The access of air to the body is necessary to carry off the perspiration, some of which is in the form of vapour.Ladies will find the greatest comfort in the simple but elegant dresses calledbatas, which are princess robes made of embroidered cambric or lawn. The materials for these dresses can be purchased in Manila, and excellent sempstresses and embroiderers can be hired at moderate wages, and the dresses made in the house. For the evenings, thin silk or muslin dresses, cut low, are most suitable.Author’s house at Ermita.Author’s house at Ermita.To face p. 177.Men who are young and robust should wear white duck jackets, and trousers without waistcoats. Elderly men, or those subject to rheumatism, will do well to wear thin flannel suits. The material for these can be got in Hong Kong. For travelling and shooting, unbleached linen, guingon, or rayadillo, is the best material, made into Norfolk jackets and pantaloons. I always found white or brown leather shoes the best wear, and canvas shooting-boots capped and strapped with leather. A Panama hat,or a solar topee, is the best head-wear. If one has to be much in the sun, a white umbrella, lined with green, should be carried. Dress is not an expensive item in Manila. Up to 1892, the washing for a whole family, with bed and table-linen, could be done for $12 per month.

Ladies will find the greatest comfort in the simple but elegant dresses calledbatas, which are princess robes made of embroidered cambric or lawn. The materials for these dresses can be purchased in Manila, and excellent sempstresses and embroiderers can be hired at moderate wages, and the dresses made in the house. For the evenings, thin silk or muslin dresses, cut low, are most suitable.

Author’s house at Ermita.Author’s house at Ermita.To face p. 177.

Author’s house at Ermita.

To face p. 177.

Men who are young and robust should wear white duck jackets, and trousers without waistcoats. Elderly men, or those subject to rheumatism, will do well to wear thin flannel suits. The material for these can be got in Hong Kong. For travelling and shooting, unbleached linen, guingon, or rayadillo, is the best material, made into Norfolk jackets and pantaloons. I always found white or brown leather shoes the best wear, and canvas shooting-boots capped and strapped with leather. A Panama hat,or a solar topee, is the best head-wear. If one has to be much in the sun, a white umbrella, lined with green, should be carried. Dress is not an expensive item in Manila. Up to 1892, the washing for a whole family, with bed and table-linen, could be done for $12 per month.

Houses.Most of the older houses in Manila are of ample size, and well suited to the climate, but some of the newer ones, built to the designs of a Spanish architect, and having glass windows, are very hot and uncomfortable. It is essential to live in a good-sized house, so as to escape the heat by moving to a different part as the sun goes round. Thus you will have your early breakfast in one corner of the balcony; your tiffin, perhaps, on the ground floor; your tea in the open corridor looking on the garden, and your dinner, at 7.30P.M., in the dining-room under the punkah.House-rent is paid monthly, and, up to 1892, a good detached house of moderate size could be got in one of the best suburbs for $100 per month, and for less in Santa Ana. Such a house would stand in its own garden, and would have stables for several horses, and shelter for one or two carriages.I understand that house-rent is now nearly doubled in consequence of the American competition. From their lavish expenditure, we must infer that the new-comers possess large private means in addition to their salaries.

Houses.

Most of the older houses in Manila are of ample size, and well suited to the climate, but some of the newer ones, built to the designs of a Spanish architect, and having glass windows, are very hot and uncomfortable. It is essential to live in a good-sized house, so as to escape the heat by moving to a different part as the sun goes round. Thus you will have your early breakfast in one corner of the balcony; your tiffin, perhaps, on the ground floor; your tea in the open corridor looking on the garden, and your dinner, at 7.30P.M., in the dining-room under the punkah.House-rent is paid monthly, and, up to 1892, a good detached house of moderate size could be got in one of the best suburbs for $100 per month, and for less in Santa Ana. Such a house would stand in its own garden, and would have stables for several horses, and shelter for one or two carriages.I understand that house-rent is now nearly doubled in consequence of the American competition. From their lavish expenditure, we must infer that the new-comers possess large private means in addition to their salaries.

House-rent is paid monthly, and, up to 1892, a good detached house of moderate size could be got in one of the best suburbs for $100 per month, and for less in Santa Ana. Such a house would stand in its own garden, and would have stables for several horses, and shelter for one or two carriages.

I understand that house-rent is now nearly doubled in consequence of the American competition. From their lavish expenditure, we must infer that the new-comers possess large private means in addition to their salaries.

Furniture.The furnishing of a tropical house is much simplified, because no carpets or curtains are needed. The floors are of polished hardwood, and they take a good deal of work to keep them in good order. A few rugs can be put down here and there, if a little colour is required. Where the floor is bad, Chinese matting can be laid down at small expense. Some of the Mestizos import costly furniture, but few of the European residents attempted to follow their example. Vienna bent-wood furniture, with cane seats, was commonly used, and was very suitable, also bamboo or rattan furniture, brought from China or made in the country. Such things as wardrobes or bookcases should have ring-bolts on each side for lashing to the walls.A child or grown person might be killed by a heavy piece of furniture falling on it during an earthquake.Furniture of all sorts is made in Manila of Red Narra, or other wood, by Chinese cabinet-makers, who will work to purchasers’ requirements. Very excellent teak-wood furniture is made in Hong Kong and Shanghai.The problem of furnishing a large house for a moderate sum, and making it comfortable, and at the same time artistic and refined, is not a difficult one, and has often been very satisfactorily solved in Manila.Large stoneware flower-pots and pedestals can be purchased in Manila, and no more suitable ornament can be found than handsome palms, ferns, or flowering plants, for halls, corridors, or reception rooms.The beds should be large, and have thin, hard mattresses and horse-hair pillows stuffed rather hard. The coolest thing to lie upon is a fine grass mat, orpetate. Covering is seldom required. On the bed will be seen a large bolster lying at right angles to the pillows, so as to be parallel to the sleeper. The use of this is not apparent to the newly-arrived Briton or American. This is theAbrazador, used throughout the boundless East.The candidate for repose, whether on the hard bed, or harder floor or deck, lies on his side, and rests his upper arm and leg on theAbrazador, thus relieving his hip and shoulder from much of his weight. He takes care to keep it a little way off his body to allow the air to circulate.A mosquito-net must be fitted to every bed, but may not always be required. In the sleeping-room there should be no curtains, and the least possible amount of furniture, and, during the hot season, the bed should stand in the middle of the room. It is advisable to have no light in the bedroom, but good lights are a necessity in the dressing-rooms.By being careful about this you will keep your bedroom free from mosquitoes. Petroleum is commonly used in the Philippines for lighting, and unless the lamps are of the best quality, and carefully trimmed, there is considerable danger of accident. I used to keep some plants in pots in each room so as to throw the earth over any oil that might get alight. Whenever there was a shock of earthquake, I extinguished the petroleum lamps, and lighted candles instead. And whenever we went out to a dinner or dance, every petroleum lamp was extinguished, and cocoanut-oillights or candles substituted in case of an earthquake whilst we were out.Frequent baths are indispensable to good health in Manila. Enormous earthenware tubs, made in China, can be procured. These are placed in the bath-room, and filled in the evening, so that the water gets refreshingly cool during the night. It is not at all advisable to get into the water, as the effect is not so good as dashing the water over the head with a small bucket called atabo. By using the water thus, and rubbing the skin briskly with a towel, a reaction soon sets in, and the bather feels quite invigorated.A bath of this kind when rising, and another before dressing for dinner, will do much to mitigate the rigour of the climate.From several stories told me by friends recently returned from Manila, it would seem that the Americans there, or some of them, at least, are not sufficiently alive to the necessity of daily baths, but I refrain from giving particulars.This seems strange when one remembers the profusion with which baths are provided in all the modern hotels in the great cities of America.Now I must tell you about gogo. This is the dried bark of a creeper that grows wild in the woods, and it is the finest thing possible to keep your hair in order.There are several kinds of this plant, the three most commonly used are gogo bayugo (Entada scandensBenth.); gogong casay (Peltophorum ferrugineumBenth.); gogong paltaning (Albizzia saponariaBlum.).As washing the hair with gogo is one of the luxuries of the Philippines, I shall describe how it is done.A servant pounds a piece of the stem and bark, and steeps it in a basin, twisting and wringing it occasionally until the soluble part has been extracted. He then adds to the liquor two or three limes, squeezing the juice out, and soaking the peel. He also throws in a handful of crushed citron-leaves, and strains the liquor through muslin.The servant then ladles this over your head with a calabash, or cocoa-nut shell, whilst you rub your hair with your hands.As the liquor is strongly alkaline, you must be careful to keep your eyes closed until the head has been rinsedwith water. Your hair-wash is made fresh whenever you want it, and may cost from two to three pence.The fragrance of the citron-leaves is delicious, and when you have rinsed and dried your hair, you will find it as soft, as bright, and as sweet-smelling as the costliest perfumes of Bond Street could make it.

Furniture.

The furnishing of a tropical house is much simplified, because no carpets or curtains are needed. The floors are of polished hardwood, and they take a good deal of work to keep them in good order. A few rugs can be put down here and there, if a little colour is required. Where the floor is bad, Chinese matting can be laid down at small expense. Some of the Mestizos import costly furniture, but few of the European residents attempted to follow their example. Vienna bent-wood furniture, with cane seats, was commonly used, and was very suitable, also bamboo or rattan furniture, brought from China or made in the country. Such things as wardrobes or bookcases should have ring-bolts on each side for lashing to the walls.A child or grown person might be killed by a heavy piece of furniture falling on it during an earthquake.Furniture of all sorts is made in Manila of Red Narra, or other wood, by Chinese cabinet-makers, who will work to purchasers’ requirements. Very excellent teak-wood furniture is made in Hong Kong and Shanghai.The problem of furnishing a large house for a moderate sum, and making it comfortable, and at the same time artistic and refined, is not a difficult one, and has often been very satisfactorily solved in Manila.Large stoneware flower-pots and pedestals can be purchased in Manila, and no more suitable ornament can be found than handsome palms, ferns, or flowering plants, for halls, corridors, or reception rooms.The beds should be large, and have thin, hard mattresses and horse-hair pillows stuffed rather hard. The coolest thing to lie upon is a fine grass mat, orpetate. Covering is seldom required. On the bed will be seen a large bolster lying at right angles to the pillows, so as to be parallel to the sleeper. The use of this is not apparent to the newly-arrived Briton or American. This is theAbrazador, used throughout the boundless East.The candidate for repose, whether on the hard bed, or harder floor or deck, lies on his side, and rests his upper arm and leg on theAbrazador, thus relieving his hip and shoulder from much of his weight. He takes care to keep it a little way off his body to allow the air to circulate.A mosquito-net must be fitted to every bed, but may not always be required. In the sleeping-room there should be no curtains, and the least possible amount of furniture, and, during the hot season, the bed should stand in the middle of the room. It is advisable to have no light in the bedroom, but good lights are a necessity in the dressing-rooms.By being careful about this you will keep your bedroom free from mosquitoes. Petroleum is commonly used in the Philippines for lighting, and unless the lamps are of the best quality, and carefully trimmed, there is considerable danger of accident. I used to keep some plants in pots in each room so as to throw the earth over any oil that might get alight. Whenever there was a shock of earthquake, I extinguished the petroleum lamps, and lighted candles instead. And whenever we went out to a dinner or dance, every petroleum lamp was extinguished, and cocoanut-oillights or candles substituted in case of an earthquake whilst we were out.Frequent baths are indispensable to good health in Manila. Enormous earthenware tubs, made in China, can be procured. These are placed in the bath-room, and filled in the evening, so that the water gets refreshingly cool during the night. It is not at all advisable to get into the water, as the effect is not so good as dashing the water over the head with a small bucket called atabo. By using the water thus, and rubbing the skin briskly with a towel, a reaction soon sets in, and the bather feels quite invigorated.A bath of this kind when rising, and another before dressing for dinner, will do much to mitigate the rigour of the climate.From several stories told me by friends recently returned from Manila, it would seem that the Americans there, or some of them, at least, are not sufficiently alive to the necessity of daily baths, but I refrain from giving particulars.This seems strange when one remembers the profusion with which baths are provided in all the modern hotels in the great cities of America.Now I must tell you about gogo. This is the dried bark of a creeper that grows wild in the woods, and it is the finest thing possible to keep your hair in order.There are several kinds of this plant, the three most commonly used are gogo bayugo (Entada scandensBenth.); gogong casay (Peltophorum ferrugineumBenth.); gogong paltaning (Albizzia saponariaBlum.).As washing the hair with gogo is one of the luxuries of the Philippines, I shall describe how it is done.A servant pounds a piece of the stem and bark, and steeps it in a basin, twisting and wringing it occasionally until the soluble part has been extracted. He then adds to the liquor two or three limes, squeezing the juice out, and soaking the peel. He also throws in a handful of crushed citron-leaves, and strains the liquor through muslin.The servant then ladles this over your head with a calabash, or cocoa-nut shell, whilst you rub your hair with your hands.As the liquor is strongly alkaline, you must be careful to keep your eyes closed until the head has been rinsedwith water. Your hair-wash is made fresh whenever you want it, and may cost from two to three pence.The fragrance of the citron-leaves is delicious, and when you have rinsed and dried your hair, you will find it as soft, as bright, and as sweet-smelling as the costliest perfumes of Bond Street could make it.

Furniture of all sorts is made in Manila of Red Narra, or other wood, by Chinese cabinet-makers, who will work to purchasers’ requirements. Very excellent teak-wood furniture is made in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The problem of furnishing a large house for a moderate sum, and making it comfortable, and at the same time artistic and refined, is not a difficult one, and has often been very satisfactorily solved in Manila.

Large stoneware flower-pots and pedestals can be purchased in Manila, and no more suitable ornament can be found than handsome palms, ferns, or flowering plants, for halls, corridors, or reception rooms.

The beds should be large, and have thin, hard mattresses and horse-hair pillows stuffed rather hard. The coolest thing to lie upon is a fine grass mat, orpetate. Covering is seldom required. On the bed will be seen a large bolster lying at right angles to the pillows, so as to be parallel to the sleeper. The use of this is not apparent to the newly-arrived Briton or American. This is theAbrazador, used throughout the boundless East.

The candidate for repose, whether on the hard bed, or harder floor or deck, lies on his side, and rests his upper arm and leg on theAbrazador, thus relieving his hip and shoulder from much of his weight. He takes care to keep it a little way off his body to allow the air to circulate.

A mosquito-net must be fitted to every bed, but may not always be required. In the sleeping-room there should be no curtains, and the least possible amount of furniture, and, during the hot season, the bed should stand in the middle of the room. It is advisable to have no light in the bedroom, but good lights are a necessity in the dressing-rooms.

By being careful about this you will keep your bedroom free from mosquitoes. Petroleum is commonly used in the Philippines for lighting, and unless the lamps are of the best quality, and carefully trimmed, there is considerable danger of accident. I used to keep some plants in pots in each room so as to throw the earth over any oil that might get alight. Whenever there was a shock of earthquake, I extinguished the petroleum lamps, and lighted candles instead. And whenever we went out to a dinner or dance, every petroleum lamp was extinguished, and cocoanut-oillights or candles substituted in case of an earthquake whilst we were out.

Frequent baths are indispensable to good health in Manila. Enormous earthenware tubs, made in China, can be procured. These are placed in the bath-room, and filled in the evening, so that the water gets refreshingly cool during the night. It is not at all advisable to get into the water, as the effect is not so good as dashing the water over the head with a small bucket called atabo. By using the water thus, and rubbing the skin briskly with a towel, a reaction soon sets in, and the bather feels quite invigorated.

A bath of this kind when rising, and another before dressing for dinner, will do much to mitigate the rigour of the climate.

From several stories told me by friends recently returned from Manila, it would seem that the Americans there, or some of them, at least, are not sufficiently alive to the necessity of daily baths, but I refrain from giving particulars.

This seems strange when one remembers the profusion with which baths are provided in all the modern hotels in the great cities of America.

Now I must tell you about gogo. This is the dried bark of a creeper that grows wild in the woods, and it is the finest thing possible to keep your hair in order.

There are several kinds of this plant, the three most commonly used are gogo bayugo (Entada scandensBenth.); gogong casay (Peltophorum ferrugineumBenth.); gogong paltaning (Albizzia saponariaBlum.).

As washing the hair with gogo is one of the luxuries of the Philippines, I shall describe how it is done.

A servant pounds a piece of the stem and bark, and steeps it in a basin, twisting and wringing it occasionally until the soluble part has been extracted. He then adds to the liquor two or three limes, squeezing the juice out, and soaking the peel. He also throws in a handful of crushed citron-leaves, and strains the liquor through muslin.

The servant then ladles this over your head with a calabash, or cocoa-nut shell, whilst you rub your hair with your hands.

As the liquor is strongly alkaline, you must be careful to keep your eyes closed until the head has been rinsedwith water. Your hair-wash is made fresh whenever you want it, and may cost from two to three pence.

The fragrance of the citron-leaves is delicious, and when you have rinsed and dried your hair, you will find it as soft, as bright, and as sweet-smelling as the costliest perfumes of Bond Street could make it.

Servants.In the good old times we were well off for servants in Manila. They flocked up from the provinces seeking places, and those employers who took pains to enquire closely into the antecedents of applicants, could almost ensure being well served.Englishmen paid good wages, and paid punctually, hence they could command the best servants.Personally, I may say that I kept my servants for years—some nearly the whole time I was in the islands. I had very little trouble with any of them. There are people who say that they have no feeling, but I remember that when I embarked with my family on leaving Manila, my servants, on taking leave at the wharf, were convulsed with tears at our departure.A family living comfortably in a good-sized house would require the following servants:—Wages in 1892.Dollars.Mayordomo, or steward, who would act as butler8 per month.Two houseboys, one would valet the master, the other would trim lamps and pull the punkah, @ $612 per month.Sempstress or maid to mistress6 per month.Gardener or coolie, would carry water for baths, sweep and water6 per month.Coachman, would look after one pair of horses and carriage12 per month.Food for six servants, @ $3 each18 per month.Maestro cook18 per month.80American competition for servants has more than doubled these rates of pay. Cooks get $50 now.The house-boys and maid live in the house, and sleep on the floor, with a grass mat and pillows. The mayordomo sometimes lives quite near, being, perhaps, a marriedman. The coachman has his room by the stables, and the gardener lives in the lodge, or in a small hut in the garden.Themaestro-cookdoes not usually sleep on the premises. He arrives about 11A.M., bearing two baskets depending from apinga, or palma-brava staff, resting on his shoulder. These baskets will contain the day’s marketing—eggs, fish, meat, chicken, salad, tomatoes, bananas, firewood, and many other things.He promptly sets to work, and by twelve, or half-past, presents a tiffin of three or four courses.His afternoon is devoted to preparing the more elaborate dinner due at 7.30P.M., when he will be ready to serve soup, fish, entrées, a roast, a curry, and sweets, all conscientiously prepared, and sent in hot. Most excellent curries are made in Manila, both by Chinamen and natives. To my mind, the best are made from prawns, from crab, or from frogs’ legs. If you cannot eat anything else at dinner, you can always make out with the curry.The dinner over, the cook asks for orders, and takes his departure, to return with perfect punctuality the following day.The Chinese cooks all belong to a guild, which is a trades’ union and a co-operative society, and are bound to follow the rules.They would never dream of going into a market and bidding one against the other.Their system is to assemble early every morning at the guild house, and for each man to state his requirements. A scribe then tabulates the orders—so many turkeys, so many chickens, etc., and two experienced cooks are commissioned as buyers to go into the market and purchase the whole lot, the provisions being afterwards fairly divided amongst the members, each having his turn to get the choice pieces, such as saddle of mutton, kidneys, etc. But if a dinner-party is contemplated, the cook who has to prepare it gets the preference.They thus obtain everything much cheaper than the native cooks, even after taking a good squeeze for themselves. I believe that they have a fixed percentage which they charge, and would consider it dishonest to take any more, whilst the guild would not approve of their taking any less.If you send away your cook, the guild will settle foryou who is to replace him. All your culinary fancies will be well known to the council of the guild, and they will pick out a man up to your standard.It was customary to give the cook a fixed sum per day to provide tiffin and dinner, and this was paid once a week.I found that two dollars a day was sufficient to amply provide for my family, and I could have one guest to tiffin or dinner without notice, and be confident that the meal would be sufficient. In fact, this was part of my agreement with the cook. By giving short notice, the dinner could be extended for two or three people at an additional charge.The cook rendered no account of the money he received; but, if I was not satisfied with the meals he provided, I admonished him, and if he did not do better I discharged him. I may say, however, that there was very seldom cause for complaint, for the Chinese are thorough business men.When a dinner-party was given, the cook provided according to order, and sent in his bill for the extras. There was no housekeeping, and no need to order anything, and you knew exactly how much you were spending weekly, and how much a dinner-party cost.The cleaning and polishing your plate and glass, the laying the table, the tasteful adorning of it with variegated leaves, with ferns or flowers, and the artistic folding of the serviettes, may with confidence be left to the mayordomo’s care; every detail will be attended to down to the ylang-ylang flowers in the finger-bowls.With such servants as these, the mistress of the house, free from domestic cares, may take her shower-bath, and, clad in Kabaya and Sarong, await the moment when she must resume the garments of civilisation, and receive her guests looking as fresh, in spite of the thermometer, as if she had stepped out of acoupéin Piccadilly or Fifth Avenue. Ladies used to the ministry of Irish Biddy or Aunt Chloe ought to fancy themselves transported to heaven when they find themselves at the head of a household in Manila.I append a note of household expenses for a family living moderately in Manila in 1892. I suppose the cost has been doubled under American rule.Household Budget in 1892.For a family of three adults and three children.Mexican Dollars.House-rentper month100Servants’ wages and foodper month80Washingper month12Forage and grain for two poniesper month16Allowance to cook for marketper month60Extra for two dinner-parties of six or eight guests eachper month20Bill at Almacen (grocery store) for groceries, ordinary wines, spirits, and petroleumper month65Bill at Botica (drug store) for soda water, ice and various articlesper month20Case of champagne for dinner-partiesper month25Repairs to carriage, shoeing horses, materials for cleaning stable, etc.per month10Garden expenses—plants, tools, hoseper month5Subscriptions to clubs, telephone, newspapers, and charitiesper month20Tobacco and cigarsper month7Taxes on servants and horsesper month10Clothing for self and familyper month50Pocket money, entertainments, and sundriesper month100——Per month600Say $7,200 per annum.

Servants.

In the good old times we were well off for servants in Manila. They flocked up from the provinces seeking places, and those employers who took pains to enquire closely into the antecedents of applicants, could almost ensure being well served.Englishmen paid good wages, and paid punctually, hence they could command the best servants.Personally, I may say that I kept my servants for years—some nearly the whole time I was in the islands. I had very little trouble with any of them. There are people who say that they have no feeling, but I remember that when I embarked with my family on leaving Manila, my servants, on taking leave at the wharf, were convulsed with tears at our departure.A family living comfortably in a good-sized house would require the following servants:—Wages in 1892.Dollars.Mayordomo, or steward, who would act as butler8 per month.Two houseboys, one would valet the master, the other would trim lamps and pull the punkah, @ $612 per month.Sempstress or maid to mistress6 per month.Gardener or coolie, would carry water for baths, sweep and water6 per month.Coachman, would look after one pair of horses and carriage12 per month.Food for six servants, @ $3 each18 per month.Maestro cook18 per month.80American competition for servants has more than doubled these rates of pay. Cooks get $50 now.The house-boys and maid live in the house, and sleep on the floor, with a grass mat and pillows. The mayordomo sometimes lives quite near, being, perhaps, a marriedman. The coachman has his room by the stables, and the gardener lives in the lodge, or in a small hut in the garden.Themaestro-cookdoes not usually sleep on the premises. He arrives about 11A.M., bearing two baskets depending from apinga, or palma-brava staff, resting on his shoulder. These baskets will contain the day’s marketing—eggs, fish, meat, chicken, salad, tomatoes, bananas, firewood, and many other things.He promptly sets to work, and by twelve, or half-past, presents a tiffin of three or four courses.His afternoon is devoted to preparing the more elaborate dinner due at 7.30P.M., when he will be ready to serve soup, fish, entrées, a roast, a curry, and sweets, all conscientiously prepared, and sent in hot. Most excellent curries are made in Manila, both by Chinamen and natives. To my mind, the best are made from prawns, from crab, or from frogs’ legs. If you cannot eat anything else at dinner, you can always make out with the curry.The dinner over, the cook asks for orders, and takes his departure, to return with perfect punctuality the following day.The Chinese cooks all belong to a guild, which is a trades’ union and a co-operative society, and are bound to follow the rules.They would never dream of going into a market and bidding one against the other.Their system is to assemble early every morning at the guild house, and for each man to state his requirements. A scribe then tabulates the orders—so many turkeys, so many chickens, etc., and two experienced cooks are commissioned as buyers to go into the market and purchase the whole lot, the provisions being afterwards fairly divided amongst the members, each having his turn to get the choice pieces, such as saddle of mutton, kidneys, etc. But if a dinner-party is contemplated, the cook who has to prepare it gets the preference.They thus obtain everything much cheaper than the native cooks, even after taking a good squeeze for themselves. I believe that they have a fixed percentage which they charge, and would consider it dishonest to take any more, whilst the guild would not approve of their taking any less.If you send away your cook, the guild will settle foryou who is to replace him. All your culinary fancies will be well known to the council of the guild, and they will pick out a man up to your standard.It was customary to give the cook a fixed sum per day to provide tiffin and dinner, and this was paid once a week.I found that two dollars a day was sufficient to amply provide for my family, and I could have one guest to tiffin or dinner without notice, and be confident that the meal would be sufficient. In fact, this was part of my agreement with the cook. By giving short notice, the dinner could be extended for two or three people at an additional charge.The cook rendered no account of the money he received; but, if I was not satisfied with the meals he provided, I admonished him, and if he did not do better I discharged him. I may say, however, that there was very seldom cause for complaint, for the Chinese are thorough business men.When a dinner-party was given, the cook provided according to order, and sent in his bill for the extras. There was no housekeeping, and no need to order anything, and you knew exactly how much you were spending weekly, and how much a dinner-party cost.The cleaning and polishing your plate and glass, the laying the table, the tasteful adorning of it with variegated leaves, with ferns or flowers, and the artistic folding of the serviettes, may with confidence be left to the mayordomo’s care; every detail will be attended to down to the ylang-ylang flowers in the finger-bowls.With such servants as these, the mistress of the house, free from domestic cares, may take her shower-bath, and, clad in Kabaya and Sarong, await the moment when she must resume the garments of civilisation, and receive her guests looking as fresh, in spite of the thermometer, as if she had stepped out of acoupéin Piccadilly or Fifth Avenue. Ladies used to the ministry of Irish Biddy or Aunt Chloe ought to fancy themselves transported to heaven when they find themselves at the head of a household in Manila.I append a note of household expenses for a family living moderately in Manila in 1892. I suppose the cost has been doubled under American rule.Household Budget in 1892.For a family of three adults and three children.Mexican Dollars.House-rentper month100Servants’ wages and foodper month80Washingper month12Forage and grain for two poniesper month16Allowance to cook for marketper month60Extra for two dinner-parties of six or eight guests eachper month20Bill at Almacen (grocery store) for groceries, ordinary wines, spirits, and petroleumper month65Bill at Botica (drug store) for soda water, ice and various articlesper month20Case of champagne for dinner-partiesper month25Repairs to carriage, shoeing horses, materials for cleaning stable, etc.per month10Garden expenses—plants, tools, hoseper month5Subscriptions to clubs, telephone, newspapers, and charitiesper month20Tobacco and cigarsper month7Taxes on servants and horsesper month10Clothing for self and familyper month50Pocket money, entertainments, and sundriesper month100——Per month600Say $7,200 per annum.

Englishmen paid good wages, and paid punctually, hence they could command the best servants.

Personally, I may say that I kept my servants for years—some nearly the whole time I was in the islands. I had very little trouble with any of them. There are people who say that they have no feeling, but I remember that when I embarked with my family on leaving Manila, my servants, on taking leave at the wharf, were convulsed with tears at our departure.

A family living comfortably in a good-sized house would require the following servants:—

Wages in 1892.Dollars.Mayordomo, or steward, who would act as butler8 per month.Two houseboys, one would valet the master, the other would trim lamps and pull the punkah, @ $612 per month.Sempstress or maid to mistress6 per month.Gardener or coolie, would carry water for baths, sweep and water6 per month.Coachman, would look after one pair of horses and carriage12 per month.Food for six servants, @ $3 each18 per month.Maestro cook18 per month.80

American competition for servants has more than doubled these rates of pay. Cooks get $50 now.

The house-boys and maid live in the house, and sleep on the floor, with a grass mat and pillows. The mayordomo sometimes lives quite near, being, perhaps, a marriedman. The coachman has his room by the stables, and the gardener lives in the lodge, or in a small hut in the garden.

Themaestro-cookdoes not usually sleep on the premises. He arrives about 11A.M., bearing two baskets depending from apinga, or palma-brava staff, resting on his shoulder. These baskets will contain the day’s marketing—eggs, fish, meat, chicken, salad, tomatoes, bananas, firewood, and many other things.

He promptly sets to work, and by twelve, or half-past, presents a tiffin of three or four courses.

His afternoon is devoted to preparing the more elaborate dinner due at 7.30P.M., when he will be ready to serve soup, fish, entrées, a roast, a curry, and sweets, all conscientiously prepared, and sent in hot. Most excellent curries are made in Manila, both by Chinamen and natives. To my mind, the best are made from prawns, from crab, or from frogs’ legs. If you cannot eat anything else at dinner, you can always make out with the curry.

The dinner over, the cook asks for orders, and takes his departure, to return with perfect punctuality the following day.

The Chinese cooks all belong to a guild, which is a trades’ union and a co-operative society, and are bound to follow the rules.

They would never dream of going into a market and bidding one against the other.

Their system is to assemble early every morning at the guild house, and for each man to state his requirements. A scribe then tabulates the orders—so many turkeys, so many chickens, etc., and two experienced cooks are commissioned as buyers to go into the market and purchase the whole lot, the provisions being afterwards fairly divided amongst the members, each having his turn to get the choice pieces, such as saddle of mutton, kidneys, etc. But if a dinner-party is contemplated, the cook who has to prepare it gets the preference.

They thus obtain everything much cheaper than the native cooks, even after taking a good squeeze for themselves. I believe that they have a fixed percentage which they charge, and would consider it dishonest to take any more, whilst the guild would not approve of their taking any less.

If you send away your cook, the guild will settle foryou who is to replace him. All your culinary fancies will be well known to the council of the guild, and they will pick out a man up to your standard.

It was customary to give the cook a fixed sum per day to provide tiffin and dinner, and this was paid once a week.

I found that two dollars a day was sufficient to amply provide for my family, and I could have one guest to tiffin or dinner without notice, and be confident that the meal would be sufficient. In fact, this was part of my agreement with the cook. By giving short notice, the dinner could be extended for two or three people at an additional charge.

The cook rendered no account of the money he received; but, if I was not satisfied with the meals he provided, I admonished him, and if he did not do better I discharged him. I may say, however, that there was very seldom cause for complaint, for the Chinese are thorough business men.

When a dinner-party was given, the cook provided according to order, and sent in his bill for the extras. There was no housekeeping, and no need to order anything, and you knew exactly how much you were spending weekly, and how much a dinner-party cost.

The cleaning and polishing your plate and glass, the laying the table, the tasteful adorning of it with variegated leaves, with ferns or flowers, and the artistic folding of the serviettes, may with confidence be left to the mayordomo’s care; every detail will be attended to down to the ylang-ylang flowers in the finger-bowls.

With such servants as these, the mistress of the house, free from domestic cares, may take her shower-bath, and, clad in Kabaya and Sarong, await the moment when she must resume the garments of civilisation, and receive her guests looking as fresh, in spite of the thermometer, as if she had stepped out of acoupéin Piccadilly or Fifth Avenue. Ladies used to the ministry of Irish Biddy or Aunt Chloe ought to fancy themselves transported to heaven when they find themselves at the head of a household in Manila.

I append a note of household expenses for a family living moderately in Manila in 1892. I suppose the cost has been doubled under American rule.

Household Budget in 1892.

For a family of three adults and three children.

Mexican Dollars.House-rentper month100Servants’ wages and foodper month80Washingper month12Forage and grain for two poniesper month16Allowance to cook for marketper month60Extra for two dinner-parties of six or eight guests eachper month20Bill at Almacen (grocery store) for groceries, ordinary wines, spirits, and petroleumper month65Bill at Botica (drug store) for soda water, ice and various articlesper month20Case of champagne for dinner-partiesper month25Repairs to carriage, shoeing horses, materials for cleaning stable, etc.per month10Garden expenses—plants, tools, hoseper month5Subscriptions to clubs, telephone, newspapers, and charitiesper month20Tobacco and cigarsper month7Taxes on servants and horsesper month10Clothing for self and familyper month50Pocket money, entertainments, and sundriesper month100——Per month600Say $7,200 per annum.

Diet.For the benefit of Boston readers (if I should be lucky enough to have any in that learned city), I may say that pork and beans is not a suitable diet for a tropical country. I should also forbid the “New England dinner,” and roast goose, or sucking pig, stewed terrapin, and pumpkin pie. A light diet of eggs or the excellent fish to be had in Manila, chickens fattened on maize, beef or mutton, once a day, and rice, vegetables and salad, with plenty of ripe fruit, according to the season, is desirable. The fare can be diversified by oysters, prawns, crabs, wild duck, snipe, and quail, all of which are cheap and very good in the season. There are no pheasants in Luzon, but the jungle cock (labuyao) is as good or better.In the tropics a good table is a necessity, for the appetite needs tempting. Such a diet as I have mentioned will keep you in health, especially if you are careful not to eat too much, but to eat of the best. If you economise on your table you will have to spend the money at thedrug-store. Taboo pork, because—well, when you have been a week or two in the country you will not need to ask why—Moses and Mahomet knew what they were about.My remarks about drinks are intended for the men, as ladies do not need any advice on this subject. In a tropical climate it is necessary to be very careful in the use of spirits.Having lived for more than twenty-five years in the tropics, and having kept my health remarkably well, I feel warranted in giving my experience. I have made surveys, or directed works, in many climates, exposed to all weathers, and I know that the very worst thing a man can take, if he has to work or march in the sun, is spirits. There is nothing that will predispose him to sunstroke as much as spirits. For marching, walking, or shooting, in the sun, I know nothing like cold tea without milk or sugar. It should be poured off the leaves after infusing for two minutes.When you reach shelter you can take a lemon squash or acagelada—this is the juice of cageles (a kind of orange) with sugar and water—which is a most cooling drink. Never take spirits to buck you up to your work. Whatever spirits you drink, let it be after sunset. I am a believer in drinking wine at meals; it makes me shudder to see people drinking tea, lemonade, or milk, with their dinners, and laying up for themselves torments from dyspepsia, for which they have to swallow pills by the boxful.

Diet.

For the benefit of Boston readers (if I should be lucky enough to have any in that learned city), I may say that pork and beans is not a suitable diet for a tropical country. I should also forbid the “New England dinner,” and roast goose, or sucking pig, stewed terrapin, and pumpkin pie. A light diet of eggs or the excellent fish to be had in Manila, chickens fattened on maize, beef or mutton, once a day, and rice, vegetables and salad, with plenty of ripe fruit, according to the season, is desirable. The fare can be diversified by oysters, prawns, crabs, wild duck, snipe, and quail, all of which are cheap and very good in the season. There are no pheasants in Luzon, but the jungle cock (labuyao) is as good or better.In the tropics a good table is a necessity, for the appetite needs tempting. Such a diet as I have mentioned will keep you in health, especially if you are careful not to eat too much, but to eat of the best. If you economise on your table you will have to spend the money at thedrug-store. Taboo pork, because—well, when you have been a week or two in the country you will not need to ask why—Moses and Mahomet knew what they were about.My remarks about drinks are intended for the men, as ladies do not need any advice on this subject. In a tropical climate it is necessary to be very careful in the use of spirits.Having lived for more than twenty-five years in the tropics, and having kept my health remarkably well, I feel warranted in giving my experience. I have made surveys, or directed works, in many climates, exposed to all weathers, and I know that the very worst thing a man can take, if he has to work or march in the sun, is spirits. There is nothing that will predispose him to sunstroke as much as spirits. For marching, walking, or shooting, in the sun, I know nothing like cold tea without milk or sugar. It should be poured off the leaves after infusing for two minutes.When you reach shelter you can take a lemon squash or acagelada—this is the juice of cageles (a kind of orange) with sugar and water—which is a most cooling drink. Never take spirits to buck you up to your work. Whatever spirits you drink, let it be after sunset. I am a believer in drinking wine at meals; it makes me shudder to see people drinking tea, lemonade, or milk, with their dinners, and laying up for themselves torments from dyspepsia, for which they have to swallow pills by the boxful.

In the tropics a good table is a necessity, for the appetite needs tempting. Such a diet as I have mentioned will keep you in health, especially if you are careful not to eat too much, but to eat of the best. If you economise on your table you will have to spend the money at thedrug-store. Taboo pork, because—well, when you have been a week or two in the country you will not need to ask why—Moses and Mahomet knew what they were about.

My remarks about drinks are intended for the men, as ladies do not need any advice on this subject. In a tropical climate it is necessary to be very careful in the use of spirits.

Having lived for more than twenty-five years in the tropics, and having kept my health remarkably well, I feel warranted in giving my experience. I have made surveys, or directed works, in many climates, exposed to all weathers, and I know that the very worst thing a man can take, if he has to work or march in the sun, is spirits. There is nothing that will predispose him to sunstroke as much as spirits. For marching, walking, or shooting, in the sun, I know nothing like cold tea without milk or sugar. It should be poured off the leaves after infusing for two minutes.

When you reach shelter you can take a lemon squash or acagelada—this is the juice of cageles (a kind of orange) with sugar and water—which is a most cooling drink. Never take spirits to buck you up to your work. Whatever spirits you drink, let it be after sunset. I am a believer in drinking wine at meals; it makes me shudder to see people drinking tea, lemonade, or milk, with their dinners, and laying up for themselves torments from dyspepsia, for which they have to swallow pills by the boxful.

Ponies.There is a race of ponies in the islands that is descended from Spanish and Arab horses, and owing to an absolutely haphazard breeding, the size has diminished, although the symmetry has been preserved. Those from Ilocos are the smallest, but they are the hardiest and most spirited.A pair of ponies and a Victoria is an absolute necessity for a lady in Manila, and I have little doubt that an American judge would declare the “failure to provide” to be cruelty and grant a divorce if applied for.Both harness and carriages are made in the city, but imported harness can be had, better finished, at double the price.Fernery at Ermita.Fernery at Ermita.To face p. 185.In my time a fine pair of ponies could be bought for$200 to $300; a new Victoria for $500, and harness for $60. The cost of keeping a pair of ponies was $16 per month, and a coachman $12 per month, food, and livery. What the cost is now I have no information.The public carriages were not fit for a lady to use, though sometimes a suitable one could be hired by the week or month from a livery stable.The ponies are wonderfully strong and sure-footed. I weigh over 200 lbs., yet some of these ponies have carried me about all day over rough ground without stumbling. They carry a lady beautifully, and riding is the best form of exercise a lady can take.

Ponies.

There is a race of ponies in the islands that is descended from Spanish and Arab horses, and owing to an absolutely haphazard breeding, the size has diminished, although the symmetry has been preserved. Those from Ilocos are the smallest, but they are the hardiest and most spirited.A pair of ponies and a Victoria is an absolute necessity for a lady in Manila, and I have little doubt that an American judge would declare the “failure to provide” to be cruelty and grant a divorce if applied for.Both harness and carriages are made in the city, but imported harness can be had, better finished, at double the price.Fernery at Ermita.Fernery at Ermita.To face p. 185.In my time a fine pair of ponies could be bought for$200 to $300; a new Victoria for $500, and harness for $60. The cost of keeping a pair of ponies was $16 per month, and a coachman $12 per month, food, and livery. What the cost is now I have no information.The public carriages were not fit for a lady to use, though sometimes a suitable one could be hired by the week or month from a livery stable.The ponies are wonderfully strong and sure-footed. I weigh over 200 lbs., yet some of these ponies have carried me about all day over rough ground without stumbling. They carry a lady beautifully, and riding is the best form of exercise a lady can take.

A pair of ponies and a Victoria is an absolute necessity for a lady in Manila, and I have little doubt that an American judge would declare the “failure to provide” to be cruelty and grant a divorce if applied for.

Both harness and carriages are made in the city, but imported harness can be had, better finished, at double the price.

Fernery at Ermita.Fernery at Ermita.To face p. 185.

Fernery at Ermita.

To face p. 185.

In my time a fine pair of ponies could be bought for$200 to $300; a new Victoria for $500, and harness for $60. The cost of keeping a pair of ponies was $16 per month, and a coachman $12 per month, food, and livery. What the cost is now I have no information.

The public carriages were not fit for a lady to use, though sometimes a suitable one could be hired by the week or month from a livery stable.

The ponies are wonderfully strong and sure-footed. I weigh over 200 lbs., yet some of these ponies have carried me about all day over rough ground without stumbling. They carry a lady beautifully, and riding is the best form of exercise a lady can take.

The Garden.The garden will be a great source of occupation to the mistress of the house. If it is sheltered from the wind and supplied with water, she can grow almost anything. And plants will come up quickly, too, under the influence of the heat and moisture.There are nursery gardens at Pasay, where all sorts of plants and seedlings can be obtained; in fact, these are hawked about morning and evening.The so-called gardener rarely has much skill, but he will clean up the garden and water it, and do what he is told.The most beautiful and delicate ferns can be grown, and magnificent orchids got to flower, if they are well sheltered in a mat-shed. Bananas and pines grow without trouble, and radishes, salads, tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons, can be raised.

The Garden.

The garden will be a great source of occupation to the mistress of the house. If it is sheltered from the wind and supplied with water, she can grow almost anything. And plants will come up quickly, too, under the influence of the heat and moisture.There are nursery gardens at Pasay, where all sorts of plants and seedlings can be obtained; in fact, these are hawked about morning and evening.The so-called gardener rarely has much skill, but he will clean up the garden and water it, and do what he is told.The most beautiful and delicate ferns can be grown, and magnificent orchids got to flower, if they are well sheltered in a mat-shed. Bananas and pines grow without trouble, and radishes, salads, tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons, can be raised.

There are nursery gardens at Pasay, where all sorts of plants and seedlings can be obtained; in fact, these are hawked about morning and evening.

The so-called gardener rarely has much skill, but he will clean up the garden and water it, and do what he is told.

The most beautiful and delicate ferns can be grown, and magnificent orchids got to flower, if they are well sheltered in a mat-shed. Bananas and pines grow without trouble, and radishes, salads, tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons, can be raised.

Shops.You can get most things you want in Manila. The drug-stores are mostly in German hands, but there is one English one where the usual English articles can be got.There is an ample supply of wines, spirits, and preserved provisions at the grocers, and the drapers keep on hand any quantity of silks, muslins, and piece-goods, with all the necessary fixings. French and German shoes are in plenty.The goods in the jewellers’ shops and in the fancy bazaars are all of a very florid style, to suit the gaudy taste of the wealthy Filipinos.Such piece-goods and haberdashery as are in common use are brought round to the ladies at their own houses by Chinese hawkers, who, having small expenses, sell remarkably cheap.They are always very civil and attentive, and will gladly get you any article that they have not in stock at the moment.Ladies save going about in the heat and dust by purchasing from these men.

Shops.

You can get most things you want in Manila. The drug-stores are mostly in German hands, but there is one English one where the usual English articles can be got.There is an ample supply of wines, spirits, and preserved provisions at the grocers, and the drapers keep on hand any quantity of silks, muslins, and piece-goods, with all the necessary fixings. French and German shoes are in plenty.The goods in the jewellers’ shops and in the fancy bazaars are all of a very florid style, to suit the gaudy taste of the wealthy Filipinos.Such piece-goods and haberdashery as are in common use are brought round to the ladies at their own houses by Chinese hawkers, who, having small expenses, sell remarkably cheap.They are always very civil and attentive, and will gladly get you any article that they have not in stock at the moment.Ladies save going about in the heat and dust by purchasing from these men.

You can get most things you want in Manila. The drug-stores are mostly in German hands, but there is one English one where the usual English articles can be got.

There is an ample supply of wines, spirits, and preserved provisions at the grocers, and the drapers keep on hand any quantity of silks, muslins, and piece-goods, with all the necessary fixings. French and German shoes are in plenty.

The goods in the jewellers’ shops and in the fancy bazaars are all of a very florid style, to suit the gaudy taste of the wealthy Filipinos.

Such piece-goods and haberdashery as are in common use are brought round to the ladies at their own houses by Chinese hawkers, who, having small expenses, sell remarkably cheap.

They are always very civil and attentive, and will gladly get you any article that they have not in stock at the moment.

Ladies save going about in the heat and dust by purchasing from these men.

Amusements.The amusements for ladies were limited to riding, lawn-tennis, boating, picnics, and frequent dances. I remember many delightful dances in Manila. One was given to the officers of the U.S.S.Brooklyn, and another to the U.S.S.Richmond. At the latter, the ladies were intraje del pais,i.e., dressed as natives and mestizas. And very handsome some of them looked. Now and again some theatrical company would come over, mostly from Saigon. There were a good many dinner parties given amongst the British community, and weekly receptions at most of the principal houses, during the time I lived in Manila, where you could get a little game of cards, dance, flirt, or take it easy, just as you liked.The ladies very wisely took a rest from two to four, to be fresh for the evening. The proper hour for calling was at 9 P.M. or 10 A.M. on Sundays after High Mass.I knew several ladies, English and American, who look back upon a term of years spent in Manila as the happiest in their lives.Children born in Manila can remain there without damage to their health till ten or twelve years old, and after having spent a few years at home are indistinguishable from children born and brought up in England.The principal thing lacking in Manila is means of access to the hills where people could go occasionally for a change and during the hot season. I have little doubt that the Americans will provide this before long.Manila was not without its frivolous element; but there was one period of the year when all frivolities were suspended, and religious observances monopolised the people’s time. That was in Lent, and the ceremonies culminated on Good Friday.The Very Noble and always Loyal City of Manila celebrates the greatest day of the Christian year very devoutly. On foot, and robed in black, its inhabitants high and low throng the churches and attend the procession.All shops are closed, vehicular traffic is suspended, the ensigns hang at half-mast, the yards of ships are crossed in saltire; not a sound is heard.The capital and the whole of the civilised Philippines mark the crucifixion of our Saviour by two days of devotion, of solemn calm. Under Spanish rule a stately procession, attended by the highest and the humblest, filed slowly through the silent streets, the Civil Government, the Law, the Army, the Navy, the Municipality and the Religious Orders, being represented by deputations in full dress, who followed bare-headed the emblems of the faith in the presence of an immense crowd of natives, who bent the knee and bowed the head in homage to the crucified Saviour.I never failed to witness this imposing spectacle when in Manila, and it was mortifying to me to remember that Good Friday in London is nothing but a vulgar holiday, and that probably not one person out of a hundred in its vast population realises in the least degree the event that solemn fast is intended to commemorate.The death-like stillness of Good Friday remained unbroken till High Mass was over on Saturday morning, when the cathedral bells rang out a joyous peal, soon taken up by the bells of the numerous churches in the city and all over the provinces.The ensigns were run up to the staff or peak, the yards were squared, and royal salutes thundered out over land and sea, whilst clouds of white smoke enveloped the moss-grown ramparts of the saluting battery, and the useless, lumbering masts and spars of the flagship. Then steam-whistles and sirens commenced their hideous din, the great doors of the houses were thrown open, and hundreds of bare-backed ponies, with half-naked grooms, issued at full gallop to the sea or river.Then Manila resumed its every-day life till the next Holy Thursday came round.

Amusements.

The amusements for ladies were limited to riding, lawn-tennis, boating, picnics, and frequent dances. I remember many delightful dances in Manila. One was given to the officers of the U.S.S.Brooklyn, and another to the U.S.S.Richmond. At the latter, the ladies were intraje del pais,i.e., dressed as natives and mestizas. And very handsome some of them looked. Now and again some theatrical company would come over, mostly from Saigon. There were a good many dinner parties given amongst the British community, and weekly receptions at most of the principal houses, during the time I lived in Manila, where you could get a little game of cards, dance, flirt, or take it easy, just as you liked.The ladies very wisely took a rest from two to four, to be fresh for the evening. The proper hour for calling was at 9 P.M. or 10 A.M. on Sundays after High Mass.I knew several ladies, English and American, who look back upon a term of years spent in Manila as the happiest in their lives.Children born in Manila can remain there without damage to their health till ten or twelve years old, and after having spent a few years at home are indistinguishable from children born and brought up in England.The principal thing lacking in Manila is means of access to the hills where people could go occasionally for a change and during the hot season. I have little doubt that the Americans will provide this before long.Manila was not without its frivolous element; but there was one period of the year when all frivolities were suspended, and religious observances monopolised the people’s time. That was in Lent, and the ceremonies culminated on Good Friday.The Very Noble and always Loyal City of Manila celebrates the greatest day of the Christian year very devoutly. On foot, and robed in black, its inhabitants high and low throng the churches and attend the procession.All shops are closed, vehicular traffic is suspended, the ensigns hang at half-mast, the yards of ships are crossed in saltire; not a sound is heard.The capital and the whole of the civilised Philippines mark the crucifixion of our Saviour by two days of devotion, of solemn calm. Under Spanish rule a stately procession, attended by the highest and the humblest, filed slowly through the silent streets, the Civil Government, the Law, the Army, the Navy, the Municipality and the Religious Orders, being represented by deputations in full dress, who followed bare-headed the emblems of the faith in the presence of an immense crowd of natives, who bent the knee and bowed the head in homage to the crucified Saviour.I never failed to witness this imposing spectacle when in Manila, and it was mortifying to me to remember that Good Friday in London is nothing but a vulgar holiday, and that probably not one person out of a hundred in its vast population realises in the least degree the event that solemn fast is intended to commemorate.The death-like stillness of Good Friday remained unbroken till High Mass was over on Saturday morning, when the cathedral bells rang out a joyous peal, soon taken up by the bells of the numerous churches in the city and all over the provinces.The ensigns were run up to the staff or peak, the yards were squared, and royal salutes thundered out over land and sea, whilst clouds of white smoke enveloped the moss-grown ramparts of the saluting battery, and the useless, lumbering masts and spars of the flagship. Then steam-whistles and sirens commenced their hideous din, the great doors of the houses were thrown open, and hundreds of bare-backed ponies, with half-naked grooms, issued at full gallop to the sea or river.Then Manila resumed its every-day life till the next Holy Thursday came round.

The ladies very wisely took a rest from two to four, to be fresh for the evening. The proper hour for calling was at 9 P.M. or 10 A.M. on Sundays after High Mass.

I knew several ladies, English and American, who look back upon a term of years spent in Manila as the happiest in their lives.

Children born in Manila can remain there without damage to their health till ten or twelve years old, and after having spent a few years at home are indistinguishable from children born and brought up in England.

The principal thing lacking in Manila is means of access to the hills where people could go occasionally for a change and during the hot season. I have little doubt that the Americans will provide this before long.

Manila was not without its frivolous element; but there was one period of the year when all frivolities were suspended, and religious observances monopolised the people’s time. That was in Lent, and the ceremonies culminated on Good Friday.

The Very Noble and always Loyal City of Manila celebrates the greatest day of the Christian year very devoutly. On foot, and robed in black, its inhabitants high and low throng the churches and attend the procession.

All shops are closed, vehicular traffic is suspended, the ensigns hang at half-mast, the yards of ships are crossed in saltire; not a sound is heard.

The capital and the whole of the civilised Philippines mark the crucifixion of our Saviour by two days of devotion, of solemn calm. Under Spanish rule a stately procession, attended by the highest and the humblest, filed slowly through the silent streets, the Civil Government, the Law, the Army, the Navy, the Municipality and the Religious Orders, being represented by deputations in full dress, who followed bare-headed the emblems of the faith in the presence of an immense crowd of natives, who bent the knee and bowed the head in homage to the crucified Saviour.

I never failed to witness this imposing spectacle when in Manila, and it was mortifying to me to remember that Good Friday in London is nothing but a vulgar holiday, and that probably not one person out of a hundred in its vast population realises in the least degree the event that solemn fast is intended to commemorate.

The death-like stillness of Good Friday remained unbroken till High Mass was over on Saturday morning, when the cathedral bells rang out a joyous peal, soon taken up by the bells of the numerous churches in the city and all over the provinces.

The ensigns were run up to the staff or peak, the yards were squared, and royal salutes thundered out over land and sea, whilst clouds of white smoke enveloped the moss-grown ramparts of the saluting battery, and the useless, lumbering masts and spars of the flagship. Then steam-whistles and sirens commenced their hideous din, the great doors of the houses were thrown open, and hundreds of bare-backed ponies, with half-naked grooms, issued at full gallop to the sea or river.

Then Manila resumed its every-day life till the next Holy Thursday came round.

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