Native canoe, Fiji IslandsNative canoe, Fiji IslandsLINK TO IMAGE
Notwithstanding all this there was the making of a very superior people in them; for when the missionaries and the teachers got among them the natives proved very apt pupils. Now there are more than twelve hundred church buildings—and a school-house or two for every church. Some of the ministers and teachers are English, but there are about four thousand native teachers and ministers, nearly all of whom were trained for their work in the island schools.
They are fine farmers, probably the best in the islands of the Pacific. They grow bananas, pineapples, peanuts, and lemons for the Australians, copra and tobacco for the British, and rice, taro, and garden vegetables for themselves. They have learned to irrigate their farms, using open ditches and bamboo mains. They make the finest canoes to be found in the Pacific. Some of the canoes are barges nearly one hundred feet in length; and not even the Hawaiians are more expert in using them.
Not a little profit to the islanders comes from the sea. They are expert divers and gather large quantities of pearl shells, which find a ready market with the button-makers of Europe. Fish are caught, dried, and sold in China. One sea product, the bêche-de-mer, a marine animal commonly called "sea-cucumber," is highly prized by the Chinese, who use large quantities; most of it is gathered by the Fijians.
Sugar, however, is the chief product of the islands, and the sugar plantations are owned by great companies that have invested millions of pounds sterling in the business. The plantations altogether produce more than three million dollars' worth of sugar yearly. The native islanders will not work in the sugar fields; so coolies from India were brought to the islands to work on the plantations.
Suva (Viti Levu), and Leonka (Ovalu), the two largest towns, are much like European cities, except that the houses are low and have large yards filled with shade trees and flowers. In the native villages the dwellings are much like those in Samoa, though a trifle better, perhaps. The side walls are covered with plaited reeds, and the roof is thatched with palm leaves securely fastened. In the lowlands it is customary to build a platform of rock upon which the house stands and into which the foundation poles are set. This is done for two reasons: when a typhoon sweeps over theislands, the lowland coast is sometimes flooded; moreover, the wind blows with such terrific force that none but the most strongly built house will withstand it.
In the centre of the floor is a pit, or fireplace, much like the cooking-place one sees in Samoa or in Hawaii. Chickens and pieces of meat to be roasted are hung from a frame over the pit. Yams and other vegetables are boiled in earthen vessels which the native potters make. The floors are covered with closely woven mats; and in order to keep them clean an earthen vessel filled with water is kept outside so that whoever enters the house may bathe his feet. Inasmuch as the natives go barefoot one may see the usefulness of this custom.
Great Britain has many islands in this part of the Pacific; Gilbert, Ellice, Tonga, Cook, and some of the Solomon group all fly the Union Jack. There is an English governor, or "High Commissioner," as he is styled, who looks after British affairs in the islands. In Fiji he is the real governor, but in many of the islands native chiefs and kings govern their peoples about as they please, provided they do not interfere with British interests.
CHAPTER XXIXTHE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
Almost midway between the United States and China a mountain chain more than three thousand miles long crosses the tropic of Cancer. Only the highest peaks, however, reach above sea level; most of the range is fathoms deep in the waters of the Pacific. The eastern end of this great chain constitutes the Hawaiian group of islands, or the Territory of Hawaii.
Altogether they are pretty nearly as large as the State of New Jersey, or five times the size of Rhode Island. All the islands are very rugged in surface—steep and high cliffs, deep valleys and canyons, and stupendous craters that have vomited great floods of lava. A little way from shore the Pacific has some of its deepest beds. If the sea could be removed the island of Hawaii would be a great dome five miles high.
The coral polyps have added their mite to the building of these islands, and coral reefs are the foundation of the coast plain that surrounds a considerable part of the girth of each.
An equable climate throughout the year, a soft and balmy air, brilliant coloring on bush and tree, magnificent pictures of sea and sky, and of mountain and plain, make the islands a veritable paradise.
It is thought that these islands were peopled by Samoan natives about the year 600, and that subsequently their number was augmented by emigrants from the Fiji and other southern islands. At first there was plenty of land for all, but as their number increased, quarrels arose. Each island had its king or chief and some of the larger islands had two or more. The result was a condition very much like the feudal system; each king had petty chiefs, and these, in turn, their retainers, who were little better than slaves. Priests, who ranked equal to the petty chiefs, directed their pagan worship and occasionally made human sacrifices.
The kings were pretty apt to be at war with one another most of the time, but, about forty years before the American Revolution, there came a great soldier and leader, Kamehameha I. By the aid of European weapons and the counsel of foreign friends, he overcame his rivals and brought all the islands under his sway.
The Hawaiian Islands were made known to the rest of the world when that plucky English sailor, Captain JamesCook, was making his third and last great voyage of discovery, in which he had set out to find the famous and tragic northwest passage. On a roundabout way to Bering Strait, he called at the islands which seemed very attractive to him. Perhaps it is not quite right to say that he discovered them, for it seems very probable that the Spanish explorer Gaetano discovered them in 1555.
General view of Volcano House, Kilauea, HawaiiGeneral view of Volcano House, Kilauea, HawaiiLINK TO IMAGE
It was 1789 when Cook first visited the islands, and after he had continued his voyage through Bering Strait, and had failed to find the northwest passage, he turned about and sailed for the islands. While ashore with a part of his crew at a landing that is now the village of Kealakekua, one of the ship's boats was stolen by natives.
Now Cook had learned to manage South Sea islanders in a very practical, though not the most tactful, way. When trouble occurred he used to send out a strong landing party, seize the king or chief and take him aboard the vessel—aproceeding which usually brought the natives to terms. But at this particular time the landing party was driven to the boats and Cook was killed.
The group of islands was first named after Lord Sandwich, a patron and friend of Cook. At the time of Cook's discovery of the long-forgotten islands it was estimated that their population was not far from four hundred thousand. Missionaries went to the islands early in the nineteenth century and their reports brought many Americans and Europeans who settled there permanently. Then the chief business of the islands was the ordinary trade with the many whaling vessels that were in the Pacific.
For a time the islands were under the protection of Great Britain; then they became an independent kingdom. When it was found that the lava fields made the best sugar-growing soil in the world, American capital came in millions of dollars to be invested in great plantations of sugar cane.
Trouble between the queen and American business interests became so serious in time that the queen was dethroned and the Republic of Hawaii was established. The republic was short-lived, however; for when the Spanish-American war occurred, it was seen that Hawaii is the key to the Pacific Ocean. The Hawaiians, foreigners and natives, had long wished to become a part of the United States. So the islands were annexed and shortly became the Territory of Hawaii.
There are six large islands—Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai. There are many small outlying islets, most of which are not inhabited. Wireless telegraph stations connect the principal islands; an ocean cable ties the Territory to San Francisco; and steamship lines carry on commerce with British, Japanese, and American ports. Even the railway-builder has not forgotten Hawaii, for there are not far from two hundred miles of railroad, about half ofwhich carry the products of the sugar and coffee plantations to the near-by ports.
Hawaii, the largest island, is famous for its great volcanoes, Kea, Loá, and Kilauea. From the village or city of Hilo comfortable coaches take visitors over a fine road clear to the crater of Kilauea. At times one may stand on the edge of Kilauea's rampart and look down on a lake of white-hot, molten lava three miles long and half as wide. Every now and then bubbles of gas or steam come to the surface and exploding send long threads of viscous lava into the air. Some of the glassy threads are fine as the finest silk and a blast of air carries them off to the cliff; Pele's hair, they call it, and the sea-gulls gather it to make their nests.
A lake of white-hot molten lava. The volcano of Mauna-Loá, HawaiiA lake of white-hot molten lava. The volcano of Mauna-Loá, HawaiiLINK TO IMAGE
The highest points of Hawaii island are nearly fourteenthousand feet above sea level. Below the line of about ten thousand feet easterly winds bring an abundance of rain; above that line westerly winds bring occasional showers and snow squalls. As a result one may find places only a few miles apart, one of which has almost daily rains while the other gets none at all along the lowland coasts.
Oahu is the best-known island because of Honolulu, the capital of the Territory. A most beautiful city it is; indeed, there is nothing elsewhere to surpass it in attractiveness—wide streets, beautiful parks, flower gardens of wonderful plants, fine dwellings, electric street cars, good government, and schools that are famous. All these things make Honolulu one of the most desirable and attractive cities of homes anywhere in the world.
Just back of Honolulu is a volcanic peak with its great crater—the "Punch Bowl," they call it, because of its shape. As one looks down from the rim of the Punch Bowl the city is half hidden among its palms and algeroba trees. Above the trees are the domes and turrets of the National Palace, the government building, and the school-houses. In the distance here and there are the great plantations—sugar, rice, and banana.
In the city streets one will see the people of many lands—Germans, English, Americans, native Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Malays, and Hindoos. Many of the native Hawaiians are rich and prosperous; some are in business, and others are in professional life. Many of the Chinese are well-to-do merchants. The Hindoos, Malays, and Japanese were brought to Hawaii to work in the great plantations.
In the native villages one will frequently find a little church building and almost always the district school. Perhaps there may also be a Chinese store. Black-eyed children are running about dressed in long gowns, and some ofthem carry little bundles of school-books, each tied with stout cord or a leather strap.
The Hawaiians will not work in the sugar and the rice fields, and not many will stand the easier labor on the coffee plantations. In cultivating their little patches of bananas, breadfruit, cassava, and taro, however, they are pretty industrious. When the time of the royal feast comes, the natives, or "Kanakas," as they call themselves, get busy. The feast certainly is a royal one. Roast pig and roast chicken are smoking in a dozen dirt ovens. There are steaming yams and sweet potatoes by the bushel, great piles of all sorts of fruit—and poi. All the rest of the food is commonplace; poi isthedish. It is one-finger poi, two-finger poi, or three-finger poi, according as it is thick enough to be lifted out of the pot sticking to one finger, or so thin as to require a dextrous swish of two or three.
Waikiki is the great resort of Honolulu. There is the finest of bathing the year round; and what is more interesting, the native surf swimmers. With a piece of plank just large enough to support his weight in the water, the bather swims out to the reef in still water. Then he, or she—for young girls are most expert swimmers—makes for open water, where the combers are forming. Then, lying flat, bather and plank are borne along on the swift rolling surf until both are tossed high on the beach.
The aquarium is famous for its unique collection of fish and marine animals; it is one of the finest in the world. Near by is the race course and amphitheatre. What is still better is the winding road through ferns and flowers that leads to the crater rampart, Diamond Hill.
Half a dozen miles west of Honolulu one goes by rail around the shore of Pearl Lochs, or Harbor. Pearl Harbor is large enough and deep enough to float all the warships Uncle Sam will ever own, and the possession of thismagnificent site for a naval station was a very strong inducement to annex Hawaii.
Less than one hundred miles away, at Kalaupapa, on the island of Molokai, is the leper settlement. Years ago Chinese settlers brought the disease to Hawaii; then the natives began to be stricken, and when it was found that leprosy was spreading, the lepers were sent to Molokai. For many years they had but little care; the government fed and clothed the poor victims and that was about all.
In 1873 Father Damien, a plucky Catholic priest, went to Molokai and thereby made himself practically a prisoner for life. Father Damien procured physicians, trained nurses, and the best possible care for the lepers, and they could at least die in comfort if they could not live. Then Father Damien himself was stricken and died. By this time, however, the government took the matter in hand. A fine hospital was built and a laboratory for the study of the disease was established. Those who are able to work can partly support themselves, and they are far better off when busy than when idle.
In 1848 the "Great Division" took place; that is, the lands for the king, for the public domain, and for the people were set aside, so that the people who so desired could own their farms and dwellings. At that time the islands were important only as a calling place for whaling vessels. At the present time Dame Nature is made to yield annually not far from one hundred million dollars' worth of products—sugar, rice, coffee, fruit, and cattle. A few years hence, tobacco, rubber, cotton, and honey will be added to the list of exported products.
Americans own the sugar plantations, which are mainly on the lava fields of Hawaii, Oahu, and Maui Islands. The Chinese and Japanese cultivate the rice along the coast lowlandsof Oahu and Kauai. Sheep and cattle are grown on Lanai and Niihau.
Uncle Sam has brought some very valuable additions to his public domain, but no investment has paid better than Hawaii, the Paradise of the Pacific.
CHAPTER XXXGUAM
While cruising in the Pacific Ocean Magellan discovered a chain of islands about fifteen hundred miles east of the Philippine group. While he lay at anchor, predatory natives stole some of his belongings; thereupon Magellan gave them a bad name, and to this day the islands bear the name Ladrones, or "thieves" islands.
Guam, the largest island in the group, became more or less important just after the Spanish-American War, inasmuch as it was required as one of our chain of naval and coaling stations that pretty nearly encircles the earth. As islands go, Guam is of fair size, about thirty miles long and from three to ten miles in width. It is mountainous and the surface is jungle-covered except where the natives have made trails and clearings. Fringing coral reefs, broken here and there, encircle the island. One of these breaks is opposite a bight in the coast, San Luis d'Apra, or Apra, as it is now called; and the bay and channel together form a harbor so well guarded that no transport laden with hostile troops would ever attempt landing.
In 1668 a mission was established. At this time the population numbered about one hundred thousand. The country was so well cultivated that the whole island seemed like a beautiful garden, for the people were pretty good farmers.Rice and tropical fruits were cultivated in abundance. The natives were also skilful in the making of pottery and they had a well-regulated calendar.
For a time they were well disposed toward their intruders; but at length, as they began to learn that conversion to the Christian faith meant also slavery to the Spanish, they rebelled against a system which was so one-sided, and their opposition led to constant strife and bloodshed.
In the course of time the severe treatment of the Spaniards, together with contagious diseases introduced, so completely wiped out the native population that, at the end of seventy years, scarcely two thousand were left. Perhaps no peoples in all the South Sea Islands have suffered more keenly from contact with Europeans than these aborigines.
Frightened at the terrible mortality they had caused, the conquerors turned to the Philippines to replenish the depopulated island. Tagals were brought over to occupy the place of the fast-disappearing natives, and with these many of the natives intermarried. The half-castes are inferior to the original inhabitants, but they have increased in population, and now number ten thousand.
Spain ceded Guam to the United States in 1898. Since the acquisition our government has established both day and evening schools for the natives, and they are making rapid progress in education.
It is a long journey to Guam—thirty-five hundred miles almost from Honolulu and not quite half as far from Manila. And how to get there? Well, it is not an easy matter. If you go to Apia, or to Manila, and remain long enough—perhaps six weeks, maybe six months—a German trading schooner will come along and take you aboard. You get there in time; for the trading schooner is likely to make a very circuitous trip, calling at a dozen islands to get copra in exchange for cloth, knives, and cheap jewelry.But if one happens to have the right sort of "pull," one can get a pass on an army transport. That means a most delightful trip from San Francisco to Honolulu, and thence to Guam. Uncle Sam does the square thing by his soldiers, and the army transports that carry them to the distant stations are fitted so as to be as comfortable as the best liners. There are a big exercise deck and a reading-room with plenty of books. Not the least important part of the equipment is a self-playing piano and a good assortment of music.
Native ploughing in rice-field, Guam. One may find rice-farms as skilfully cultivated as those of Japan or ChinaNative ploughing in rice-field, Guam. One may find rice-farms as skilfully cultivated as those of Japan or ChinaLINK TO IMAGE
There is not very much to see after one reaches Guam. One village is just about the same as all the others. Perhaps half a dozen huts are built of mud, or possibly of coral limestone; the rest are made of bamboo frames coveredwith palm—all in one room in which the family and the pig live.
Agaña, however, is a village of six or seven thousand people. It is laid out in streets which are fairly regular. They are deep with dust during the dry season, and with mud the rest of the year. There are several government buildings which are neat and trim, two or three churches, several school buildings, and a few stores. Most of the people one meets on the street speak Spanish; a few speak English. English is the coming language, however; for the schools are there to stay and every one of the fifteen hundred youngsters who attend school carries away a little English. A fine road bordered with palms connects Agaña with Apra, seven miles south.
There is not much to see in Guam. The scenery is much like that of every island in that part of the Pacific. About the only diversion of the soldiers stationed there is hunting, which is pretty good if one is content to hunt deer and wild hogs. Artistic sportsmen might prefer the deer, but all the real fun is the share of the hog-hunters. The hogs are savage beasts when cornered; they likewise are full of animal cunning.
Along the coast lowlands one may find rice-farms as skilfully cultivated as those of Japan or of China. Most of the rice is consumed on the island; however, copra, or dried cocoanut, is an export, and its sale brings enough money to the natives to purchase the cloth and other goods needed. Since American occupation the caçao tree has been cultivated, and cocoa bids fair to be the chief export in the near future.
The government of Guam is better under American rule than at any time in the previous history of the island. When the late Admiral Schroeder was governor of Guam he consulted his log-book and discovered that he was altogethertoo far away from Washington to be tied to rules and regulations, or to be tangled up in official red tape. So he cut the tape and used good common sense instead. Perhaps the government was a bit patriarchal, but it was good, clean, and wholesome—and every one profited by it.
CHAPTER XXXITHE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
Our newest possession, the Philippine Archipelago, in a way, is also our oldest, for the islands were discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, about twenty-nine years after the great discovery of Columbus. Magellan called at several islands, among them Mindanao and Cebú. He anchored in the harbor on which the city of Cebú now stands. He seems to have been treated in a very friendly manner by the natives of Cebú, but when he crossed to a near-by island he was attacked and killed. The friendship of the King of Cebú was not very steadfast, for after Magellan's death several of his officers were put to death by the king's order.
For two hundred and forty years the islands were a possession of Spain; then they were captured by a British fleet. They were soon restored to Spain, however, and remained a Spanish possession until 1898, when they were ceded to us after the Spanish-American War.
There are more than three thousand islands in the archipelago, and they are the partly covered tops of a mountainous and rugged plateau. Many volcanoes testify to the volcanic origin of the plateau; indeed, the surface of the plateau seems to be a thin crust over—well, over trouble; for the dozen or more volcanoes are never quiet long enough to be forgotten. Perhaps it was proper to name the islandsafter Philip II of Spain, for he, too, had his full measure of trouble.
The archipelago is of pretty good size. The whole plateau, land and water, is about as large as that part of the United States east of Chicago; and the islands themselves are pretty nearly as large as the State of Texas. Luzon, the largest island, is about as large as Pennsylvania, and Mindanao is a bit smaller. Then there are Samar, Panay, Palawan, and Cebú—every one large enough to make a State of fair size, and every one with enough people to make a State.
There are about seven million people all told, most of whom are of the Malay race. As a rule, they are pretty well along toward civilization; some of them are educated. There are also tribes of the black race—Negritos, they are called—who are just plain savages. They are the original inhabitants of the islands, and it is most likely that they are the descendants of people from New Guinea. In the southwest is the Sulu group, inhabited by Malays, called Moros. They are Muhammadans in religion and are the last of the Malays who came to the islands.
Of all the Malay peoples, the Tagalogs of Luzon have been the foremost to learn the arts of western civilization. They have surpassed their near relatives, the Visayans, who live in the central part of the islands. Perhaps it is the closer contact with the Spanish that has given the Tagalogs their great progress. At all events they have become well to do and prosperous as measured by other Malay peoples.
The Moros, who live mainly in the southern part, have scarcely reached civilization. In the Sulu islands they have their own government, at the head of which is a native sultan. In many parts of the islands there are tribes governed by chiefs called "dattos." Some of the natives are prosperous farmers, but many of them are savages.
A great deal has been said about the misrule and cruelty of the Spanish governors and officials. Being soldiers and task-masters it is likely that they did many things that will not stand the searchlight of civilization. But the work of the priests will always leave a pleasant flavor. For three hundred years they braved every danger and suffered every hardship in their work. For every one that fell a victim to disease, or to the bolo, there was another ready to fill his place. They not only converted the natives to Christianity, but they also taught them to be thrifty farmers and prosperous business men. As a result the Filipinos are the only Asian people of considerable numbers that have yet become Christians.
The carabao, harnessed to a dray or wagon, shuffles alongThe carabao, harnessed to a dray or wagon, shuffles alongLINK TO IMAGE
When the Philippine Islands became a possession of the United States, one of the first things done was to establish several thousand schools. A thousand American teacherswere at first employed. Training schools for teachers were established, and in the course of a few years more than five thousand Filipino teachers were conducting native schools. English is taught in all the schools, and there are special schools in which agriculture, mechanical trades, and commerce are taught.
There is good reason for all this, for the islands have wonderful resources. Gold, silver, copper, and iron are abundant. The forests have an abundance of hard woods that sooner or later will find a market both in Europe and America. The rice-fields will easily produce enough grain for the whole population, and a considerable amount to sell in addition, when all the rice-lands are cultivated. For want of good wagon roads and railways only a small part of the rice-lands are cultivated.
There is an abundance of good grazing land that will produce meat for twice the present population. Most of the cattle now grown in the islands are of the kind found in India.
The most common beast of burden, however, is the carabao, or water-buffalo. What an ugly looking beast it is! It is as clumsy as a hippopotamus, as ugly as a rhinoceros, and as kind and gentle as an old muley cow. Harnessed to a dray or a wagon, it shuffles along, its big, flat feet seeming to walk all over the road. But those same big feet are the animal's chief stock in trade. They enable him to walk through both sand and deep mud—mud so soft and deep that a horse or a mule would sink to its body. Nothing but the carabao's flatboat-like feet could drag ploughs through the soft mud of the rice-fields.
Carabaos are easily trained to farm work, and even children can drive them—or ride on their backs in going to school. The milk of a carabao is as good and wholesome as that of an ordinary cow; the meat is pretty tough, but it is not unwholesome.
One thing, however, the carabao must have, and that is a bath several times a day. Deprived of its bath, the animal at first becomes restless; then it breaks away in a half-crazed condition for the nearest water, where it buries itself, all but its head. Native drivers know just how to manage their animals and drive them to the nearest water several times a day.
There are horses in the islands, but not many. Most of them are very much like the mustang. The Spanish brought Andalusian ponies to the islands many years ago, but they did not prove very useful. Within a few years American horses were introduced, but they could not live on Philippine grasses. Mexican mustangs and Mongolian ponies were much better, however, but they are used chiefly as riding animals.
Of all the beasts of burden in the Philippine Islands, none is in the same class with John Chinaman. Everywhere his bland smile is seen; his patience has no end—and, apparently, his work has none. The Filipino farmer works merely to keep body and soul together; John Chinaman works to save hard cash, and he saves it. Wherever there is any money to be made, John is pretty certain to be near by. He is the cook and "maid-of-all-work" in the house of the foreign resident, the stevedore on the dock, the clerk in the forwarding house, the "boss" in the rice plantation, the handy man in the tobacco factory, and the store-keeper in the remote Filipino village. Sixteen hours of hard work every day and Sunday seem to make him grow fat; the rest of the time he just works for fun—and hard cash.
Long before the Chinese coolie came to the United States the Spanish raised the cry "The Chinese must go." The Spanish made short work of them, killing them by thousands and tens of thousands. But in a year or two John was on hand again, smiling and working sixteen hours a day—strictlyfor cash. And he is in the Philippine Islands to stay.
As a rule the Filipinos rarely live isolated as do the American farmers. Almost always they cluster in villages of one or two hundred people. The Filipino is not likely to cultivate a big farm. Two or three acres will supply the family with all the food required, and the Chinese merchant will buy enough of his produce to provide a few dollars in cash and the cloth for the family wearing apparel. In the smaller villages there is an open place that answers for a street, but the houses are apt to be scattered about without much regularity of arrangement.
The houses, like those of the Pacific islands generally, are built of bamboo frames—heavy pieces for the framework itself and woven bamboo splints for the side sheathing. The roof is carefully thatched with the leaves of the nipa-palm and these are sewn into a thick mat with ratan. In places where the ground is likely to be overflowed, each house is set on posts so that the floors are several feet from the ground. In this case the "pig" does not "live in the parlor"; the pigs and chickens occupy the "ground floor." All told, the Filipino village mansion may not be very ornate, but it is extremely comfortable.
The larger villages and cities are built much alike. There is a plaza or public square. Around the four sides, and facing the plaza, are the church, government buildings, and stores. The more pretentious residences are near by. Further away these give place to the Filipino, or "nipa houses," as they are called. The street surrounding the plaza is broad and well kept; elsewhere the streets are quagmires in the rainy, and dust holes in the dry season. Pretty nearly always there is a Chinese quarter that is crowded and dirty; quite likely, too, the best stores in the town are kept by Chinese merchants. That is the way the Spaniards laidout their cities and towns in Spain; they did not change the plan in the Philippines. The houses built for them in the islands are much like those in Spanish towns—adobe walls plastered with stucco, and roofed with tiles.
The harbor of the city. Scene on the Pasig River, ManilaThe harbor of the city. Scene on the Pasig River, ManilaLINK TO IMAGE
Manila is the capital and commercial centre of the islands. It is a city about as large as Seattle, and is situated at the head of a landlocked body of water, Manila Bay. Corregidor Island, a little dark-green islet, guards the entrance to the bay; and one cannot see the wicked guns that are ready to pour a raking fire into a hostile fleet until one is within a few hundred yards of the island. The only thing visible at a distance is a flag flying from a high mast; but it is the Stars and Stripes that bends to the east wind. The bay is a good-sized bit of water, too. In the middle of it one can just barely see the gray, misty hills that surround it.Then the shore line begins to take shape and the mouth of Pasig River seems to open in front of the incoming steamship. In a few minutes the harbor of the city is in sight. Steamships, with their painted stacks and funnels, and sailing vessels, with every sort of mast and rigging, crowd the harbor. Row-boats by the hundred are moving in every direction, and little steam-launches and motor-boats are spitting viciously as they go back and forth.
The lower part of the city is almost like Amsterdam; it is traversed by canals, great and small, in which are fishing-smacks waiting to have the catch taken to market. Puffy, wheezy tugs are making fast to huge cascoes, or lighters; for the cargoes must be taken from the docks to the steamships and sailing-vessels out in the harbor.
The Pasig is only ten or twelve miles in length. It flows from a near-by lake, and both sides of the river are lined with villages, and market-gardens, and duck-hatcheries.
The business streets are crowded with carts and drays. Here and there are smart-looking carriages carrying well-groomed men, who talk little and look rich. There could not be more style and ceremony about them if they were in New York, London, or Paris. Trim-looking soldiers in khaki uniforms, native Filipinos in white suits, Chinese in silk gowns and long sleeves, native women wearing red skirts and black shawls, native coolies in loose blouses and short pantaloons—all go to make up the throng of the streets.
Most of the houses are two stories in height with arcades or awnings that shelter the sidewalks. And such narrow sidewalks!—they are hardly wide enough for more than three people to walk abreast. But even the business houses are built for comfort. The roof has a broad overhang, and quite likely there is a covered veranda.
Many of the Filipinos of Manila are educated and prosperous. Their houses are said to be furnished in Europeanstyle, and likewise their clothing. Sure enough everything bears a "made in Germany" mark, but everything looks distinctly Filipino. The head of the family wears a suit of spotless white duck, but it has a military cut—and perhaps he goes about the house barefoot; if so, he knows what real comfort is.
Extracting indigo in Ilocos Province, Philippine IslandsExtracting indigo in Ilocos Province, Philippine IslandsLINK TO IMAGE
Mother and daughters wear skirts of beautiful brocaded silk, very wide and full; above the skirt is a loose garment much like a shirt-waist cut low at the neck, and over this a lace cape with a wide, flowing collar. Possibly they wear heelless slippers, but just as likely they, too, are barefoot—when no visitors are present. Perhaps such suits are not quite so becoming as the trim, tailor-made suits in New York, but they are a lot more comfortable.
A short distance from the Escolta, or chief business street,is one of the many markets of Manila. The whole space is laid off with rows of bamboo booths. Pretty nearly everything to eat, to wear, or to furnish the house is on hand—or rather in loose piles—fish, duck's eggs, meat, rice, pinole, fruit of forty kinds, straw hats, straw sandals, straw raincoats, tin ware from America, wooden ware from Holland, and clay stoves "made in Manila."
Every alley has its own wares, and John Chinaman with his baskets balanced on a long pole puts a finishing touch to the market. A Filipino cannot be emphatic in an ordinary tone of voice. Buyer and seller work themselves up to high C pitch until it seems as though nothing short of a fit would overtake both. Bedlam is turned loose in every part of the market. Usually a man and his wife are required to conduct the business at a booth. Their bare feet sticking out from the skirts bob up and down, beating time to the clatter of their voices.
Here comes a man whose sole stock in trade consists of a single article, namely, a python. His goods are twined about a pole with a cross piece for a perch, but the snake's tail has a loving twist around the owner's neck. What for?—well, the python has a sweet tooth for rats and mice and the sweet tooth of this particular snake is on edge for a square meal. Years ago foreign ships brought rats from various countries. In the course of time rats and mice became so numerous that it became a question whether Manila should exterminate the rats or the rats exterminate Manila.
Now, those same ships ought to have brought some cats along, too. But it is just as well that they did not, for one python is worth half a dozen cats or rat terriers when business is on hand. The only drawback occurs when the python insists on getting into bed with his owner to keep warm.
When in Manila, go to Duck-town by all means. It isonly a short distance from the near-by market. The feeding grounds and hatcheries extend for two miles along the river. Hundreds of thousands of ducks are reared at the hatcheries, some for eggs, and others for food. The ducks are fed on shell-fish, and foreigners imagine that both the meat and the eggs have a fishy flavor. Eggs and edible bird's nests are also brought from neighboring sea-cliffs to the Manila markets; and both are considered great delicacies.
Manila hemp as it is brought in from the countryManila hemp as it is brought in from the countryLINK TO IMAGE
Manila is the largest city of the Philippines, but there are also several other cities of good lusty growth. Bauan, Lipa, Laoag, and Batangas—all in Luzon—and Ilo-ilo in Panay are growing in population and business as the resourcesof the islands develop. Since the American occupation, Uncle Sam has done a great deal to make these ports centres of business; harbors have been deepened; railways have been extended; good roads have been built; and rivers have been made navigable.
There are several exports that will always tend to make the Philippines rich. Tobacco is an important crop and the Manila leaf, as it is called, is of very fine quality. There are those who whisper it about that much of the leaf is shipped to Cuba to be made into "Havana" cigars. Sugar is also a great export crop, and when the railways now under way are completed sugar will become one of the foremost exports. The export of copra, or dried cocoanut, is a leading industry, and the Philippine Islands produce a large part of the world's product.
One Philippine product, however, connects the islands with almost all the rest of the world, namely, Manila hemp. That is, it is called "hemp," but it is not hemp at all; the fibre is obtained from a plant very closely related to the banana. White leaves or husks grow closely around the stalk of the plant, forming a tightly fitting case. This envelope is composed of thousands of long, strong fibres that, when cleaned and dried, are the hemp that makes the strongest and best rope in the world.
After the pulpy leaves are stripped from the stalk, the pulp is squeezed out of them and the fibres are left in the sun to dry. The best fibre is as soft and fine as silk. Some of it is used in making a fine cloth; the coarser fibre is used for rope and hawsers. More than fifteen million dollars worth of Manila hemp is sold yearly.
In the treaty with Spain, by which Uncle Sam acquired the islands, twenty million dollars was paid to Spain. But the exports from the Philippines have averaged nearly thirty million dollars a year ever since.
CHAPTER XXXIITHE DUTCH EAST INDIES—JAVA
The East India Islands is a name which embraces nearly all the islands of the Malay Archipelago, together with the Philippines. The largest of these are New Guinea, Borneo, Sumatra, Celebes, and Java. Nearly all of them, except the Philippines and parts of New Guinea and Borneo, are controlled by the Dutch. These fertile islands are a source of great revenue to the Netherlands; to the rest of the world they are the chief source of sugar, spices, and coffee.
Of all the Dutch East Indies, Java is by far the most beautiful and productive; it is a garden of the choicest fruits and flowers.
There are two seasons, a wet and a dry. During the wet season the torrential rains are accompanied by thunder and lightning. In some parts of the island more than a hundred thunder-storms occur yearly. The average rainfall is from sixty to one hundred and eighty-five inches, most of the rain falling on the windward side.
Many of the streams are perennial, and their waters are conducted away to be used in irrigation, thus bringing under cultivation nearly every part of the island. Moreover, the streams themselves hold fertilizing material much of which has been thrown out by volcanoes. The irrigating water itself furnishes sufficient enrichment for the soil, and but very little fertilizing is required. The heat, moisture, and fertile soil, coupled with skilful farming, produce bountiful harvests and make the whole island a smiling field of verdure and plenty.
The hills and mountains in many places are terraced, so that at a distance they look like gigantic staircases carpetedwith bright green. So fertile is the soil that in some places two or three crops are raised each year.
About one-fourth of the surface is covered with forest. Among the most valuable trees is the teak-wood, which is extensively used in ship-building. It is a more durable timber than oak, since it resists decay for a long time, even when wholly or partly submerged in sea water. There are vessels afloat to-day which were built of teak one hundred years ago.
The inhabitants, about thirty million in number, are of the Malay race and belong to three nations, speaking closely related but different languages—the Sundanese, Javanese, and Mandurese. The island was wealthy, populous, and had a high degree of civilization long before it was known to Europeans.
Long years ago—twelve hundred or more—the Hindoos invaded the country, and in the fifteenth century Muhammadans came. They were followed later by the Dutch who first gained trading concessions and then gradually got possession of the whole island, much in the same way as England secured India. Each conquest left its impress on the people; the Muhammadans converted the natives to their religion. Buddhism preceded the religion of the great prophet, and some of the teachings of Buddha have been retained, together with many pagan customs.
The Dutch wisely made no effort to Christianize the natives and, until recently, they have discouraged all such attempts, believing that they could control the people better without disturbing the prevailing religious conditions. Indeed, they manage affairs with the natives wonderfully well.
The island is divided into "residences," in each of which the laws are administered by a native governor. A Dutch resident is employed by the colonial government to assistthe native governor—really to see that he manages his people justly and fairly, for strict justice has always been observed in dealings with the natives.