Chapter XVII: The Coral Island of Sikayana (9)

Of the numerous friends whom we were so fortunate as to make during our stay in Java, and to whom such heart-felt thanks are due for their hospitality and the warm interest they took in the objects of our Expedition,[69] many have since left the island for ever, and by their return to Europe left many a lamentable vacancy.[70] The more deserving of acknowledgment is the constant endeavour of the present Colonial Government to attract to itself fresh intelligence, and so not alone stimulate the scientific activity of the present, but also provide for the filling up of the various posts by properly qualified persons. The magnificent and expensive works which have been published of late years in Java by men of science, are the splendid fruit of that noble-minded support, and it is much to be regretted that the Government does not extend this liberality to their _political_ system,--that despite the glorious example in their own immediate neighbourhood of the results of English Free Trade, Government still cramps the energies of the colony with monopolies and privileges, and thereby checks the development of a country, which, alike by its position and its manifold natural advantages, bids fair to be one of the wealthiest and most prosperous countries in the world.

At seven A.M. on the 29th May, the _Novara_ weighed anchor in the roads of Batavia, after a stay of 23 days. Our next visit was to be paid to the Philippine Archipelago,--to the flourishing island of Luzon, or rather to Manila, the most important settlement in the entire group. This was the pleasantest trip throughout the whole voyage. The distance, some 1800 nautical miles, was achieved in 17 days, with delightful weather, and balmy south-west monsoons.[71] By the 14th June we were in sight of the coast of Luzon, and on the following day we ran on before the freshening monsoon into the broad, beautiful gulf of Manila. As we passed between the rock La Monja (the Nun) and "El Corregidor," or Governor's Island, which lie right in the channel, we met the _Cleopatra_, a large English screw-steamer, which had a freight of 1150 Chinese, who were to be imported into the Havanna as so-called "free" labourers. These poor wretches came from Amoy, and, as we afterwards learned, had been put on board so scantily provided, and so little cared for by the authorities, that thus early, during the voyage from Amoy to Manila, only 700 miles, eleven of these "passengers" had died, and the captain found himself compelled to bear up for the nearest harbour in consequence of a sort of malignant fever having broken out on board, so virulent that there were deaths occurring almost every day. We shall treat more particularly of this hideous trade in men, which is chiefly carried on by the Portuguese, when describing our visit to Macao.

The Bay of Manila is a beautiful land-locked basin, of such splendid proportions that when we had passed Governor's Island the city of Manila was still below the horizon. We anchored on the afternoon of 18th June in the harbour of Cavite (seven nautical miles south of Manila), because during the S.W. monsoon this harbour is more sheltered, and therefore safer for ships, than the shallow open roadstead of the capital. Cavite, which boasts a fort, an arsenal, a dockyard, and a cigar manufactory, lies on a low, narrow tongue of land projecting into the bay. Whoever may have first set foot at Cavite, on the soil of the Island of Luzon, so renowned for its natural magnificence of scenery, must involuntarily feel that his anticipations have been sorely disappointed; he will with all possible diligence make the best of his way from the glaring white sands and black walls of the fortress here to Manila, the next object of our hopes. A small screw plies daily between Cavite and the last-named city, and this vessel also conveyed the Expeditionists from Cavite to the capital of the Philippine Archipelago.

FOOTNOTES:

[34] Several copies of these various publications of the different scientific societies of Java were presented to the Expedition by the members of these learned bodies.

[35] Still the chief article of cultivation is rice, which constitutes almost the sole bread-stuff of the Javanese. Crauford in his admirably digested dictionary of the Indian Archipelago calculates that the annual rice crop is about 500,000,000 lbs., and that each individual consumes annually one quarter, or 480 lbs.!

[36] For some extremely beautiful and costly weapons used by the Malay races we are especially indebted to Mr. J. Netscher, one of the directors of the Society of Arts and Sciences, a profound scholar in the various idioms spoken in Java, and who on the same occasion enriched our collections with some of his own valuable numismatic specimens and philological researches, and to this day neglects no opportunity of advancing the special objects of our Expedition.

[37] Only two of the various races of Java have remained constant to the belief of their fathers, and still honour, some of them Buddha, some Brahma. Among these are the Badawis, who constitute all that remain of a once mighty race at the east end of the island, among the hills of Kendang in the Residency of Bandang, on the Tenggers, also at the east of the island in the Residency of Passeruwan, the former numbering 1500, the latter about 4000 souls.

[38] Garsick, the Grisse of modern days, was the first spot where these jealous sectaries settled about the year 1374, and the two Arabic sheikhs Dulla and Moellana are usually cited by later historians as the introducers of the Mahometan worship into Java.

[39] There are at present two kings reigning on the Island of Lombok: Ratu Agong Agong Suede Carang-assem, and Ratu Agong Agong Made Carang-assem. These had submitted under special treaties to the Dutch Government, whose vassals they now are.

[40] Yellow is the royal colour of the Ruler of Lombok. According to the prevalent custom, no one but the king and members of his family is permitted to use that colour in their dress or ornaments.

[41] This peculiarity of Eastern manners is universally prevalent wherever Oriental nations have come in contact with Europeans. It is of course as entirely unlike the genuine hospitality of the rude Bedouin or Tartar as it is possible to imagine, and seems to belong to an early and very imperfect notion of true refinement. Traces of it will be found in all countries, even in Europe, and in its original form of making a present in the expectation of receiving something more valuable in return, which lies at the bottom of all this pseudo-generosity. The astuteness of the Scotch Highlanders, themselves a race remarkably free from such meannesses, has hitched the system into a pithy proverb, the sense of which is to "send a hen's egg in order to get a goose's in exchange."

[42] 73.75 paals (posts) are equal to one degree of the equator, whence one paal = within a small fraction of 4943 feet 6 inches. This method of indicating land-measure originated in the circumstance that on every road intersecting Java from west to east, the respective distances from the three chief places, Batavia, Samarang, and Surabaya, are marked up upon wooden "paale" or posts.

[43] As yet there are no railroads on the island. But a company has been formed with the intention of uniting the more important and productive districts of the island, an enterprise which will extend to about 1000 miles (English), and will cost about L8,500,000.

[44] It is well known that Holland in former days recruited her black regiments of the Netherland Indies by men from the Gold Coast, and in fact had set on foot a sort of traffic in men with the king of Ashantee.

[45] Dr. Junghuhn, in his admirable work upon Java, describes the rainy season--which usually has fairly set in by the month of January, when the westerly and north-westerly winds are driving the rain-clouds before them--in the following spirited language:--"The floods stream from the clouds often for four-and-twenty hours at a stretch without the slightest interruption, and with such violence that the noise of the plash of the falling element drowns the voices of the inhabitants, compelled as they are to keep to their houses. Every brook and river overflows its banks, covering with a tide of muddy brown water the alluvial soil wrested from the bed of ocean, while the frogs croak incessantly day and night, and the lizards and snakes emerge from their holes, and creep into every corner of the dwellings of every man; all through the hours of darkness is heard the loud thousand-voiced hum of insects, of myriads of mosquitoes, till it is hardly possible to find a dry place throughout the house. The hot, sultry air is saturated with moisture, so that everything becomes damp, in consequence of the fine particles of the rain-vapour penetrating into the inmost corners of the house."

[46] Pronounced _Chipannas_ (hot stream), from _Tji_, water, and _Pannas_, hot. _Tji_ is always pronounced like _chi_, and _oe_ like _oo_.

[47] One can form some idea of the enormous fecundity of this insect, if we mention that it takes 200,000 in a dried state to make one pound of the cochineal of commerce.

[48] Two Vanilla plants, imported in 1841 from the Botanical Garden of Leyden, remained barren for nine years, till recourse was at last had to the system of artificial fructification, upon which these plants increased so rapidly that the plants at present under cultivation at Pondok-Gedeh amount to 700,000!

[49] Now named _Cankrienia Chrysantha_. The plant most characteristic of this region was the _gnaphalium arboreum_.

[50] These four species were _Cinchona Calisaya_, _C. Condanimea_, _C. Lanceolata_, and _C. Ovata_.

[51] According to our latest advices from Java, which extend to November, 1860, there are at present in the Preanger Regency upwards of 100,000 China plants in the very best order, so that this valuable commodity not only may be regarded as fully naturalized in that island, but the Dutch Government even complied with the request of the British Government for a certain number of seedlings for introduction into India.

[52] Pronounce _Tschipodas_ and _Tschangschoor_ (Sweet Water) respectively.

[53] Called in the Sunda dialect Gunung Masigit, or Hill of the Mosque, in consequence of the chalk, of which it is composed, being broken into pinnacles of remarkable uniformity, and strongly resembling the appearance presented by the minarets of a mosque.

[54] As these edible swallows'-nests form a very important article of commerce among the Colonial products, and their collection provides the means of subsistence to a considerable section of the population of Java, we shall follow here the description given by Dr. Junghuhn, in his truly classic Monograph upon Java, in which (Book I. p. 468) he speaks as follows respecting the marvellous abodes selected by this species of swallow, and the perils dared by the native in obtaining their nests. "In Karangbolong, a portion of the entrance to the holes where the swallows breed is on a level with the surface of the water, and at times covered by the sea. In one of these cavities, the Gua Gede, the edge of the coast-wall rises 80 Paris feet above low water, in a concave form, so that it actually overhangs; however, at an elevation of about 25 feet there occurs a projection, which the Rotang-ladder reaches by being suspended perpendicularly. The ladder is made by two side ropes of reed, which every inch-and-a-half, or two inches, are bound to each other by cross-bars of wood. The roof of the entrance to the cave is only 10 feet above the sea, which even at ebb-tide washes the flow throughout its extent, while at flood-tide the mouth of the cave is entirely closed by the sweep of the rollers. Only during ebb-tide therefore, and with perfectly smooth water, is it possible for any one to penetrate into the interior. Even then this would be impossible, were not the rocky vault, or roof of the cavern, pierced through, eaten away, and corroded into innumerable holes. By the projecting angles of these holes it is that the strongest and most daring gatherer who first makes his way in, has to hold on, while he attaches to them ropes made of Rotang, which thus hang from the roof to a length of four or five feet. At their lower extremities other Rotang ropes are securely fastened crosswise, thus running, rather more horizontally, parallel with the roof, so that they form a hanging bridge as it were along the whole length of the roof. The roof is about 100 feet wide, and from the entrance at the south to the deepest recess in the north end, the cave is about 150 feet in length. Although only 10 feet high at the entrance, the roof becomes gradually more and more lofty as the cavern retreats, till at the farthest extremity it is about 20 to 25 feet above the sea-level. Before any one of the nest-hunters proceeds to erect his ladder, and again before proceeding to climb up upon it in such fearful proximity to the thundering swell, a solemn prayer is proffered to the goddess or queen of the sea-coast, whose blessing is invoked. At this place she bears the name of _Njai-Ratu-Segor-Kidul_, or sometimes _Ratu-Loro-Djunggrang_, and has dedicated to her in the village of Karangbolong a temple, which is kept scrupulously clean. Occasionally the gatherers make also a solemn sacrifice at the tomb of _Serot_, who, according to a Javanese legend, is revered as the first discoverer of the bird-nest caves." (The meaning of the above Javanese words is as follows: _Njai_, the title of honour of a female, corresponding to our "Madame:"--_Ratu_, Queen:--_Segoro_, ocean:--_Kidul_, south:--_Lero_, maiden:--_Djunggrang_ is a surname.) Compare "Java, its physical Features, Vegetation, and internal Structure," by Franz Junghuhn. Leipsig, Arnold, 1842.

[55] The picul varies in weight between 125 and 133-1/3 pounds.

[56] Toestand der aangeweekete Kinabomen op het eiland Java in het laatst der Maand Julij, en het begni van Augustus, 1857. Kort beschreven door F. Junghuhn, 116 pp.

[57] At all events, among the planters up the country the opinion prevails that the coffee beans prepared by the native population on what is called the parching method are of far finer and more durable quality than those prepared by the former process.

[58] Professor Vriese, besides having all expenses paid, drew a salary of L1000 per annum, besides 10 guilders (16_s._ 8_d._) a day for every day passed by him in the interior of the island while engaged in its explorations.

[59] The commercial and statistical particulars of Java, for which we are mainly indebted to the kindness of Mr. Fraser, the Austrian Consul in Batavia, will be specially considered in a different part of the work.

[60] The Javanese agriculturist, especially the coffee planter, is sadly tormented by three kinds of grass, which Dr. Junghuhn has named the Javanese Trinity, and which are invariably found with the coffee plant--_Erichthitas Valerianifolia_ (which was introduced from Mocha with the coffee-shrub, and was never before known in Java), _Agerahun Conisoides_, and _Bideus Sundaica_. The civet-cat, too (called _Luah_ in Javanese, Jjaruh in the Sunda language), does great damage to the coffee plantations, just as the crop is being collected. It eats only the fleshy part of the brown berry, the beans, at least according to what the Javanese say, actually gaining a flavour by the process to which they are subjected in the maw of the animal!

[61] In 1859 the most important of the colonial products, grown for account of the Government, presented the following quantities:--

Coffee piculs 727,000 (of 125 lbs. each)
Sugar " 901,000.
Indigo 558,800 lbs.
Cassia 256,000 "
Cochineal (a failure in the crops owing to incessant rains) 6,700 "
Tea 2,057,400 "
Pepper 45,000 "

The duties on imports and exports for that year in the islands of Java and Madura alone amounted to 7,440,579 guilders, or L620,048.

N.B. The picul of 125 lbs. = 136 lbs. 10 ounces avoirdupois.

[62] Since this was written a number of the Dutch officials and _savans_ at Java, who showed so many civilities to the Austrian travellers, were decorated by our Government with Austrian orders, among whom was also the Raden Adipata Wira Nata Kusuma, the first native Javanese Regent ever decorated by a foreign power. The prince was extremely delighted when he was informed of it, and said he longed for the hour when the imperial decoration was to arrive that he might put it on and wear it. Singularly enough the presents and letters of acknowledgment sent to the Dutch Government in the Hague for remittance, were not forwarded direct by the mail steamer, but as customary by sailing vessels, so that they only arrived six months after they were presented!

[63] A genuine Javanese musical instrument, consisting of a number of bells all differently tuned, which are struck with two small bamboo-sticks.

[64] Die Republic Costa Rica, in Central-America, mit besonderer Beruecksichtigung der Naturverhaeltnisse, und der frage der deutschen Answanderung und Colonisation. Reisestudien und Reiseskizzen aus den Jahren 1853 und 1854. Von Dr. M. Wagner and Dr. Karl Scherzer. Leipzig, Arnold'sche Buchhandlung. 1856. S. 196-197.

[65] Colonel Von Schierbrand, to whom natural science is already under deep obligations for acquiring a variety of valuable objects, is constantly and indefatigably endeavouring, both as a friend of knowledge and a zealous sportsman, to procure, sometimes by personal exertion, sometimes by employing natives engaged at his own expense, a series of rare geological specimens. He appears to be, like so many other of our excellent friends in Java, a living contradiction to the proverb, "Out of sight, out of mind," as he has since the return of the Expedition already sent over as presents to the museums of our native country, valuable selections of curious objects of natural history from the Indian Archipelago.

[66] The Loar-Badang (Public Market) is an immense building, a sort of brothel on a large scale, kept by a Frenchman, who pays a handsome annual sum to Government for the privilege of his infamous traffic. Here, among others, are some 40 or 50 wretched outcasts, whom he sends off in boats every evening to the merchantmen in the port, for the accommodation of their crews!!!

[67] According to official return, the number of criminals, in the year 1857, convicted in the islands of Java and Madura, was 3864, of whom 198 were females and 955 were sentenced to the chain-gang. In the year 1857 alone, 2525 coloured criminals were sentenced to hard labour, with or without chains. The number of convictions in the Dutch East Indies, exclusive of Java and Madura, amounted in the same year to 4430.

[68] Thus the "Prima donna" receives for tragic opera 1500 guilders (L125), and for comic opera 1800 guilders (L150) per month during the season. The "troupe" is usually engaged for a year and a half or two years together.

[69] Of these we cannot refrain from mentioning Dr. Van den Broek, who shortly before our arrival had returned from Japan, where he had resided seven years as physician and Government agent. Dr. Van den Broek, who is at present engaged in the editing a dictionary of the Dutch and Japanese languages, presented us with a botanical work in Japanese with numerous woodcuts, and at the same time was so exceedingly kind as to present us with a small vocabulary of the Court and the popular dialects used in Japan.

[70] Among scientific circles in Batavia the recent departure of the renowned ichthyologist, Dr. Bleeker, who intends to settle in Holland or Germany, will be the more appreciated, that this resolve will be regarded by his numerous European friends as a satisfactory assurance that the valuable materials relating to natural history which he has collected will ere long make their appearance in a suitable form.

[71] Voyagers between Batavia and Manila must not, however, always expect to make so rapid a voyage. In Manila we fell in with a ship captain, who had left Batavia in April, and, owing to the prevalence of calms and contrary winds, had been 59 days on the passage!

XIII.

Manila.

Stay from 15th to 25th June, 1858.

Historical notes relating to the Philippines.--From Cavite to
Manila.--The river Pasig.--First impressions of the city.--Its
inhabitants.--Tagales and Negritoes.--Preponderating influence
of Monks.--Visit to the four chief monasteries.--Conversation
with an Augustine Monk.--Grammars and Dictionaries of the idioms
chiefly in use in Manila.--Reception by the Governor-general of
the Philippines.--Monument in honour of Magelhaens.--The
"Calzada."--Cock-fighting.--"Fiestas Reales."--Causes of the
languid trade with Europe hitherto.--Visit to the
Cigar-manufactories.--Tobacco cultivation in Luzon and at the
Havanna.--Abaca, or Manila hemp.--Excursion to the "Laguna de
Bay."--A row on the river Pasig.--The village of Patero.--
Wild-duck breeding.--Sail on the Lagoon.--Plans for
canalization.--Arrival at Los Banos.--Canoe-trip on the
"enchanted sea."--Alligators.--Kalong Bats.--Gobernador and
Gobernadorcillo.--The Poll-tax.--A hunt in the swamps of
Calamba.--Padre Lorenzo.--Return to Manila.--The "Pebete."--The
military Library.--The civil and military Hospital.--
Ecclesiastical processions.--Ave Maria.--Tagalian merriness.--
Condiman.--Lunatic Asylum.--Gigantic serpent thirty-two years
old.--Departure.--Chinese pilots.--First glimpse of the coasts
of the Celestial Empire.--The Lemmas Channel.--Arrival in
Hong-kong Harbour.

Luzon, or Manila, the largest and most important island, politically speaking, of the Philippine Archipelago, is the sole possession of the Spanish Crown which was visited by the _Novara_ during her numerous traverses and diagonal tracks on her voyage round the world. As we had hitherto come into contact for the most part with the Anglo-Saxon race and its colonies, it was naturally doubly interesting to have an opportunity of becoming likewise acquainted with the results of civilization and colonization as exemplified by what are called the Romaic or Latin branches of the great Caucasian family, and by personal examination to satisfy ourselves in what fashion the Castilians have succeeded in identifying their own advantages with those of the natives of these islands. True it is, that the history of the earlier Spanish dependencies is by no means calculated to heighten our regard for the wisdom and mildness of the colonial policy of Spain, or to give a particularly favourable impression of the political and social condition of the Philippine Islands. A state, whose power at the commencement of the present century was still beaming in all its lustre, who has lost the fairest and most fertile lands on the face of the earth, which it had possessed for above three hundred years, without the slightest attempt to defend them, whose Government, through its inflexible adherence to obsolete forms and ordinances, after the dizzy pre-eminence of ruling the world has dwindled into a power of the third class,--leaves nothing to hope that any part of its organization should have remained intact, that the canker in its political and social proclivities, which so suddenly and so disastrously brought about the downfal of one of the mightiest and most extended empires in the world, should not likewise have made its appearance in the Philippines. However, it is precisely these considerations which make the contrast between the colonies founded by the Anglo-Saxon race in remote regions of the globe, and those of the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and so forth, so valuable and instructive, although a rigid analysis of the causes which have conduced to the present condition of the majority of the countries conquered and ruled by races of Latin origin, must necessarily impress the unprejudiced inquirer in a sense little flattering to these latter, namely, that the history of every quarter of the globe would have assumed an entirely different aspect had these countries been first discovered and colonized by the Anglo-Saxon race, with its watchwords of freedom and religious toleration, instead of the Spaniard or Portuguese, with tyranny and fanaticism inscribed on its banners.

The Archipelago of the Philippines comprises those numerous islands and islets between the parallels of 5 deg. and 21 deg. N., and which are scattered between the North Pacific Ocean on the east and the Chinese Sea on the west. The entire group, which, according to the Spanish account, consists of not fewer than 408 islands, extends over 16 deg. of latitude by 9 deg. of longitude, covering a superficial area of 91,000 square miles, or about the dimensions of England, Ireland, and Wales, exclusive of Scotland. Only two islands however of the whole cluster are of considerable dimensions, viz. Luzon, or Manila, which is about the same size as Galicia, Moravia, and Silesia taken together, and Mindanao, which, in superficial area, is about equal to Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola.

As in size, so in fertility, natural advantages, and commerce, Luzon is the most important island in the Archipelago, as it is likewise one of the most delightful spots in the tropics. The climate is adapted to the cultivation of all the plants and various forms of vegetation alike of the torrid and the temperate zones. On the coast the thermometer never falls below 71 deg.6 Fahr., nor rises above 95 deg. Fahr. In the highland valley of Banjanao, 6000 feet above the level of the sea, albeit not above 36 miles distant from Manila, the thermometer frequently descends as low as 44 deg.6 Fahr. The highest register of the thermometer is during the rainy months,[72] from May to September; but we were assured over and over again that in Manila the heat is very equably distributed over the entire year, and never attains such a high degree as many summer days in Madrid. The most valuable and most extensively used plants of the tropical and sub-tropical zones, suck as sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, bananas, maize, tobacco, and rice, flourish here. The forests abound in all the most valuable descriptions of cabinet-wood, but the narrow-minded illiberality that has always characterized the colonial policy of Spain, the numberless restrictions to which her commerce is subjected, do not admit of that magnificent development of which this insular cluster, so abounding in natural wealth, would be susceptible under a more free-souled rule. The Spaniards have conquered and have subjugated the islands, fanatical monks have what they call Christianized the people, but, during the three hundred years that the Castilian has held the supremacy here, little if anything has been done for the prosperity and development of the country, or the intellectual and moral advancement of the people.

The Philippine Islands were discovered by Magelhaens and Pigafetta on the 17th March, 1521, nearly twenty-nine years after the discovery of America by Columbus, and two years after the conquest of Mexico by Fernando Cortez. In consonance with the religious customs of that age, the group was named by Magelhaens "The Archipelago of St. Lazarus," because the day on which it was discovered corresponded with the fete-day of that saint in the calendar. But the discovery did not imply the conquest of the Archipelago. Four expeditions were dispatched at various intervals, without their succeeding in subduing the natives. The solitary result obtained thence was, that the commander of the fourth expedition, that of 1542, Don Ruy Lopez de Villalobos by name, changed the Scriptural name of the Archipelago for that by which it is at present known, in honour of the prince of Asturias (then 15 years old), afterwards Philip II.

It was not till a fifth expedition had started in 1565, forty-one years after the first discovery of the Archipelago by Magelhaens, that the conquest was finally completed. The leader of this was Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, a man noways inferior to a Cortez or a Pizarro in venturesomeness of spirit, inflexible perseverance, and brilliant courage, and in humanity far exceeding either. His squadron consisted of five ships, and his entire force, including soldiers and mariners, was but 400 men.

On 21st November, 1564, Legaspi sailed from Port Natividad in Spain, and on 16th February, 1565, hove in sight of the Philippines. The hardy navigator was accompanied by a number of Augustinian monks, who in the subsequent subjugation of the islands proved far more serviceable than his soldiers. The superior of these monks, Fray Andres de Urdaneta, a very remarkable man, had commanded a ship in the first expedition, and had afterwards been admitted into the order of St. Augustine.

Four years after their arrival at the Philippines, and after they had subdued the native inhabitants of the fertile islands of Cebu and Panay, Legaspi first discovered Luzon, and there in the year 1571 founded the city of Manila. Since this first conquest the Spaniards have by no means been permitted to retain undisturbed possession of this smiling cluster of islands. Not alone the Portuguese and the Dutch bestirred themselves at various intervals to drive the Spaniards out of the Archipelago, but the English likewise, in 1762, towards the close of the Seven Years' War, invaded these settlements.[73]

The area conquered, however, did not extend further inland than to a distance of ten miles from the walls of the city, and after an occupation of ten months, Manila was restored to the Crown of Spain by the Peace of Paris, 1763. Since that memorable period, the Philippine group has remained uninterruptedly under the dominion of the Spaniards, and has up to the present day been a faithful dependent of the Royal House of Castile. In fact, with the exception of Cuba and Porto Rico, the Philippine and Marianne Archipelagoes are the sole colonies that Spain still retains of her once so enormous possessions in the distant portions of the globe, although in Manila even in our own day, as will be more fully detailed presently, despite her honourable distinction of "_La Siempre real ciudad_" (The Ever Loyal city), there is no lack of discontent, and the generally prevailing "loyal tranquillity" is, none the less, boding many serious perils for the Spanish supremacy.

The most striking peculiarity of the natural configuration of Luzon[74] is its strongly-marked separation into two peninsulas, a northern, which comprises the larger portion, and a southern, smaller island; the former named Luzon by the Spanish, the latter Camarinas. The length of the entire island, including its numerous curves, is about 550 miles, and its greatest width about 135 miles, but in many places it is little more than thirty miles in breadth. The chain of the Caraballos mountains traverse Luzon from north to south, and sends off spurs in various directions, which impart an exceeding hilly aspect to the entire island.

The Spaniards divide Luzon into three main divisions; Costa, Contra-Costa, and Centro, corresponding pretty nearly with the western side, the eastern side, and the interior of the island, and formerly indicating in what order these different sections of the country had been subjected to the Spanish dominion. The latest distribution is into 35 provinces and 12 districts.

Manila, the capital of Luzon, as also of the whole Archipelago, and the oldest European settlement in this region of the globe, lies at the mouth of a small but rather rapid river, the Pasig, which after a course of about 30 miles, draws off to the sea the waters of the great Bay-Lake (_Laguna de Bay_). In consequence of a not very conveniently situated mole, the Pasig is forming a bar close to its own embouchure, which makes it somewhat dangerous for boats to attempt an entrance in bad weather. Ships, however, can anchor about 1-1/2 miles below the fortified walls of the city, which, though impregnable to the attack of a native force, would probably be found powerless to repel a European force attacking from seaward.

The members of the Scientific Commission started from Cavite, where the frigate lay at anchor, in the small steamer which plies daily to the capital, which, when beheld from a distance, with its gloomy, lofty, defiant fortifications, and its dense clusters of monastic buildings and church towers, gives the impression rather of some great Catholic Mission than a place of commerce. In the roads there were not above 16 ships lying at anchor, whereas we counted 165 in Singapore, a disproportion which, considering the favourable site of Manila and its wealth in all manner of valuable produce, can only be accounted for by the pressure of political and administrative regulations, which weigh like a mountain upon trade and commerce.

On pulling up the river from its mouth, where it is about 300 feet wide, we find ourselves in the vicinity of the light-house, in front of a dense mass of the inevitable filthy bamboo huts, which being inhabited by the very poorest section of the population, increase the dismal, gloomy impression left by the first view of the city. We land in the neighbourhood of the harbour-master's office, and have to pick our steps through a dirty quarter of the town in order to reach the focus of public activity.

The river Pasig divides Manila Proper from its sister city of Binondo. Two handsome bridges, one an old-fashioned stone one, the other a modern suspension bridge of imposing dimensions, form the communication between the two cities. Manila, situate on the southern or left bank, and enclosed on all sides with ditches and fortifications, has all the peculiar features of a Spanish town of the ancient type. It consists of eight straight, narrow streets, all running in one direction. Within these are most of the public buildings; the Governor-general's Palace and that of the Archbishop, the Municipality, the Supreme Courts, the Cathedral, the Arsenal, the Barracks. Profound silence reigns in the grass-grown streets, between the gloomy masses of stone, of which at least one-third are Church property. There is no evidence anywhere of joyous life or social progress, and the variegated, charming flower-garden, lately laid out in the square in front of the Cathedral, stands out like a solitary gay picture, amid austere, sombre, historical paintings of vanished might and faded splendour. Within the walls of this melancholy old city only Spaniards and their descendants may dwell, all other races being excluded from this privilege. The number of inhabitants within the fortifications does not probably exceed 10,000 souls.

On the other hand, Binondo, on the northern or right bank of the river, is the true business city and head-quarters of trade. Here Europeans, Chinese, Malays, and their endless intermixtures of blood, amounting in all to more than 140,000 souls, reside in the most perfect harmony with each other; here are all the warehouses, shops, and manufactories; here prevails from morning till night a perpetual whirl of busy, cheerful crowds circulating through the streets, of which that called the Escolta is the most frequented, as it is the handsomest and most attractive. The houses, on account of the frequency of earthquakes, are usually one storey high, enclosing large courts (_patios_), and very frequently with a sort of terrace on the roof. The interiors of the houses have an unusually spacious appearance, owing to their almost universally having but little furniture, in many cases simply a number of chairs ranged along the walls. But the most singular aspect of these houses is to be found in the windows, the panes of most of them being made, not of glass, but of the shell of a species of oyster (_Placuna Placenta_), ground down to the requisite thinness! The subdued light which is thus obtained is exceedingly grateful, and these mussel-shells have been found to be cheaper and more lasting than panes of glass, which, in a country so frequently visited by earthquakes and hurricanes, could only be replaced when injured at an immense expense. The streets are rather narrow, so much so that linen awnings are stretched across the streets from one row of shops to that opposite, thus securing to the foot-passenger the inestimable boon of being able during the hottest hours of the day to traverse almost every street in Binondo under shade.

That which the stranger understands by the emphatic word "comfort" is only to be found in the houses of European residents, and is not obtainable by money. The two hotels lately started to levy, unchallenged, Californian prices for even the most moderate requirements, and so far as cleanliness and orderliness are concerned, lag far behind the commonest country inn in North America or the British colonies.[75]

Despite the various races that meet the stranger's gaze, Manila has, beyond any other colony in the East, the appearance of a European town. One remarks here, that the colonists are more completely amalgamated with the natives, and that with the religion these latter have also adopted a considerable proportion of the customs of Europeans.

Among the populace of Manila belonging to the coloured races, that most prevalent in the capital is the Tagal, or Tagalag, on whose territory the Spaniards founded their first settlement. The obscurity that envelopes their origin has never been dispelled, although some of the older religious writers thought they found on Borneo and other islands of the Sunda Archipelago some traces of their stock. They were confirmed in this impression by the fact, that in the most cultivated dialects and idioms of the Tagal is to be found an unusually great number of Malay and Javanese words. The majority of the plants cultivated here, such as rice, sugar-cane, yam, indigo, cocoa-palm, as also all domestic animals, many of the metals, and even the digits used in enumeration, are, although greatly corrupted, directly traceable to the corresponding words or names in Malay. Moreover, there is a tradition very prevalent throughout Luzon, that the Spaniards, at their first arrival in this Archipelago, found certain Bornese officials here, who were levying taxes and tithes for the Rajahs resident in that island.

Next in number to the Tagals rank the Chinese with their descendants, and to these succeed the Spaniards, with their offspring born in the country, who amount together to barely 5000, or about a 28th of the whole population of the capital; of Spaniards of pure descent, there are not above 300 in Manila.[76]

Besides the Tagal there is in this Archipelago yet another race, the _Negritos_, who only inhabit the mountain districts of the islands of Luzon, Mindoro, Panay, Negros, and Mindanao, and are estimated at about 25,000 souls. These Negritos del Monte, or Negrillos, also called Aeta, Aigta, Ite, Inapta, and Igorote, are small in physical conformation as compared with their African congeners. The characteristic features of the negro are less strongly marked, the colour of their skin and their complexion are both less black. For this reason old Spanish authors speak of them as "_menos negro y menos feo_" (less negro-like and less hideous). Owing to their small stature, which does not average above 4 feet 8 inches English, they have received the appellation of Negritos (diminutive Negroes). By Spanish writers upon the Philippines they have been described as a still existent branch of the lowest type of humanity, without fixed dwellings, without regular employment, eking out a bare subsistence on roots and wild fruits, and such animals as they could bring down with the bow and arrow, their only weapon. Through the kind offices of Mr. Grahame, we had an opportunity of gratifying our curiosity to see an individual of this singular race of Negritos. This was a girl of about 12 or 14 years of age, of dwarf-like figure, with woolly hair, broad nostrils, but without the dark skin and wide everted lips which characterize the negro type. This pleasing-looking, symmetrically formed girl had been brought up in the house of a Spaniard, apparently with the pious object of rescuing her soul from heathenism. The poor little Negrilla hardly understood her own mother tongue, besides a very little Tagal, so that we had considerable difficulty in understanding each other. The received opinion that the Negrillos and the Igorotes are of a distinct race, but having some affinity with the Papuans of New Guinea, seems to us for many reasons very problematical. We are as yet far too little acquainted with the races inhabiting the most inaccessible parts of the island, to be able to pronounce a correct opinion upon such a point. The probabilities are not less that the Negritos and Igorotes stand in the same relation to the dwellers on the coast as the Bushmen to the Hottentots, the Weddahs to the Cingalese, or the savages of Sambalong to the natives of the rest of the Nicobars.

The Spanish language is only available in Manila and the vicinity;--a few miles in the interior, even in places which hold almost daily communication with Manila, Tagal is much more commonly used. At present Tagal is written and printed exclusively in the Roman character. While in Manila, we never once saw a book or MS. in which the ancient character had been used. Even the oldest printed matter, such as, for instance, a Tagal grammar, published in Manila in 1610, contains only a few samples of the native alphabet, while as to its original arrangement, as also the form of the numerals, the utmost uncertainty prevails. The entire alphabet, which, including the three vowels, consists of but 17 letters, comprises the following characters:

[Transcriber's Note: Each of the italicized character groups below designate the Roman equivalent to a Tagal character. The Tagal character can not be rendered here. It is available in the .html version of this book.]

Vowels.

_a_ _e_ and _i_ _o_ and _u_

Consonants.

_ba_ _ca_ _da_ a. _ra_ _ga_ _nga_

_ha_ _la_ _ma_ _na_ _pa_ a. _fa_

_sa_ _ta_ _va_ _ya_

A dot _above_ the character changes the vowel sound _a_ of the original consonants into _e_ and _i_.

_be_ _ke_ _de_ a. _re_ _ge_ _nge_ _he_ _le_ _me_ _ne_

[Line of Tagal characters]

_bi_ _ki_ _di_ a. _ri_ _gi_ _ngi_ _hi_ _li_ _mi_ _ni_

_pe_ a. _fe_ _se_ _te_ _ve_ _ye_

[Line of Tagal characters]

_pi_ a. _fi_ _si_ _ti_ _vi_ _yi_

A dot _below_ the character changes the vowel sound _a_ of the original consonant into _o_ and _u_.

_bo_ _co_ _do_ a. _ro_ _go_ _ngo_ _ho_ _lo_ _mo_ _no_

[Line of Tagal characters]

_bu_ _cu_ _du_ a. _ru_ _gu_ _ngu_ _hu_ _lu_ _mu_ _nu_

_po_ a. _fo_ _so_ _to_ _vo_ _yo_

[Line of Tagal characters]

_pu_ a. _fu_ _su_ _tu_ _vu_ _yu_

From the foregoing characters it would appear that _a_ and _o_, as also _e_ and _i_, _da_ and _ra_, _pa_ and _fa_, had each but one and the same character.[77]--Besides the Tagal, five other different idioms are used by the civilized races of Luzon, namely, Bisaya, Pangasinana (the same as Ilocano), Tbanac (same as Cagayana), Bicol, and Pampanya.

The Tagals are a small race, of a clear yellow complexion, and, notwithstanding their broad flat noses and thick lips, are by no means of unpleasing appearance. The hair of the head is rigid, bristly, and black; the beard very sparse. They all wear European clothes more or less, although the fashion in which they wear them is quite peculiar and ludicrously odd. Not merely do the lower orders and servants wear the shirt ironed perfectly smooth and unwrinkled, instead of a coat, above their continuations, but the Tagal dandy prides himself on his well-lacquered boots, his white stockings, his new Paris silk hat worn with a jaunty cock to one side, and above all his carefully plaited resplendent white shirt, as he struts through the streets of Manila, cigaret in his mouth, and swinging an elegant little cane! The women wear, like the Javanese women, the "Sarong," a parti-coloured striped cotton dress, rolled round the loins, and a close-fitting very short jacket, so short indeed that between it and the gown a space about an inch wide intervenes through which the naked body is visible, while the fine transparent gauze-like stuff of which the jacket is made is much better calculated to show off than to conceal their attractions. This universal fashion of dress is the more surprising, as the various orders of monks exercise in all other respects an almost despotic control over the natives, and as it is much more attributable to their influence than to that of the secular authorities that the speech, manners, and customs of old Castile have taken firm and extensive root in the Philippines. It seems, however, unjust to compare this group of islands, as has been done by modern writers, on account of the all-pervading influence of the Spanish element, with a province of Spain, in contradistinction to the colonies of other nations, where the Europeans have always been regarded by the natives as the lords of a conquered country. The English in India, Ceylon, and New Zealand, and the Dutch in Java, all appear to have a much firmer and more secure footing than the Spaniards, despite their having mingled with the people. How little can be effected by forced amalgamation of speech and manners, is best illustrated by the late separation of Central and Southern America from the Spanish rule, although in most of these countries the majority of the people speak only Spanish, and are governed entirely in accordance with Spanish customs. Much better founded seems to us the observation that it was less the sword than the cross of Spain which brought the Philippines under the throne of Castile, and that the natives have become Spanish Christians, without being Spanish subjects. The entire Archipelago is nothing but one rich church domain, a safe retreat for the legion of Spanish monks, who are able to lord it here with unrestrained power. There is a Governor-general of the Philippines only so long as it pleases the Augustinian, Dominican, and Franciscan friars; and if ever an insurrection breaks out in the Archipelago, designed to shake off the Spanish yoke, there will be more than one monk to head the movement.

In a country where the cloister and its denizens interfere so arbitrarily in all the concerns of life, and impart to the capital itself, as indeed to the entire Archipelago, a character entirely peculiar to itself, religious establishments and their zealous occupants call for special consideration, and the reader need assuredly feel no surprise that we should begin the narrative of our visit to the capital of the Philippines by a description of its monasteries. In Manila these unfortunately are not, as they were in the middle ages, the nurseries of culture and civilization, of science and art, but rather give the impression of being simply huge establishments for the maintenance of zealous souls, weary of life, who wish to close their days of labour in tranquil contemplation, exempt from all anxiety.

The four orders of monks to whose hands are confided the entire spiritual and very much of the secular well-being of the inhabitants of the Philippines, are the Augustines (_Agustinos Calzados_--sandalled friars), the Franciscans, the Dominicans, and the barefoot Augustinian mendicants (_Agustinos descalzados_ or _Recoletos_).

The monastery of the Bare-Foot Friars, lying close to the wall of the fortifications, consists of a number of spacious buildings, some of which date from the 17th century. Everything here tells of former power and splendour. From the billiard-room and parlour on the first storey, the eye is charmed by a marvellous landscape commanding the Bay of Manila and the mountains that surround it. How delightful must it be in the evening twilight to pace these airy chambers in the society of congenial souls, and, while the brow is fanned by the cool sea-breeze, to give free scope to the reins of fancy, as it swept far away over the Bay of Manila! For what privations must not such a source of pure exquisite enjoyment indemnify the ascetic brethren of the cloister! That spiritual meditation and converse however do not form the sole topics discussed in these departments, was abundantly evidenced by the hints let fall by several of the monks who conducted us through the various corridors and apartments, and who were constantly indulging in visions of Carlist supremacy and a return of the halcyon days of monasticism. On our remarking that so far as worldly consideration was concerned, the cloister enjoyed far more cordial support in Manila than either in Spain or Cuba, one of the Augustinians who was accompanying us, a tall commanding figure, attired in the plain garb of the order, replied: "The Government knows that it has need of us, that it could not get on a day without us, therefore it leaves us in peace, and places no impediments in our path as in Spain."[78] And he was right. Whensoever the monks lift the finger, Spain has ceased to rule in the Philippines. The spiritual reins have ever bridled the secular authority, and such a state of things is the severest impediment to the development of the country and its intellectual growth.

Of the various monastic orders resident in Manila the Augustinians are by far the best educated. They have made the various dialects of the native races their study far more deeply than the other orders. The "_Flora de las Filipinas_," the _only_ botanical work which has ever been published in the Spanish language, treating of this interesting Archipelago, was compiled by an Augustinian monk, Fray Manuel Blanco.[79]

The number of monks resident in the monastery of Manila when we were there was 48, but there was room enough for three times as many. Altogether there were of the Augustinian order 58 monasteries and parishes in the island of Luzon, extending from one end of the island to the other. In the entire Archipelago there are, according to public documents, 145 Augustinian monks, whose authority extends over 14 provinces and 153 villages, numbering 1,615,051 souls.[80]

The monastery of the Dominicans is kept clean and comfortable, and its wide spacious apartments leave a less vivid impression of decay and human indifference than the majority of the monastic edifices. Here also the lofty, light chambers in the upper storeys command a magnificent prospect. The Prior, Padre Vellinchon, received the Austrian travellers with much cordiality, and conducted them in person round all the apartments of the very extensive building. He spoke Latin pretty fluently, and without the peculiar Spanish accent, besides possessing a slight acquaintance with French; and was somewhat better informed upon European matters than his spiritual _confreres_. The library of the order is not kept in the convent, but in one of the buildings of the University of St. Thomas also used by the Dominicans, but it is quite unimportant, whether as regards the number of works it contains or their scientific value.

The spiritual jurisdiction of the Dominicans extends over eight provinces of the Archipelago, including 76 villages, with in all 427,593 souls, whose eternal interests are watched over by 76 brethren of the order.[81]

A Dominican friar, Joaquin Fonseca, is president of the permanent commission of Censorship of Books, consisting in all of nine members, five of whom are nominated by Government and four by the Archbishop of Manila.[82] We had the pleasure of being made acquainted with Fray Joaquin Fonseca, who also holds the appointment of Professor of Theology in the University of St. Thomas, and were presented by him with a copy of an imperfect epic poem composed in Spanish, which had for subject the history of the island of Luzon and its inhabitants.[83] Of this interesting fragment we shall publish a translation in another place.

Just as we were leaving the Dominican monastery, its worthy Prior begged our acceptance, by way of souvenir of our visit, of a copy of Dante's Divina Commedia in the original text, and a dictionary of the Ybanac, one of the idioms most extensively used throughout the Archipelago.

The monastery of the Franciscans presents no other feature of interest, than in so far as it is an emblem of the melancholy spiritual decay in which the members of this order at present find themselves in Manila. The dirt and untidiness which were not merely apparent in the various apartments, but which were even but too obvious in the external appearance of the brothers of the order, make a most disagreeable impression; for poverty and necessity, these two cardinal principles of the mendicant orders, are by no means incompatible with cleanliness and neatness.

The Franciscans possess 16 missions in 14 of the provinces, comprising 159 villages and 749,804 inhabitants.[84] The spiritual instruction of these is intrusted to 184 brethren of the order, 74 priests, and 43 _Clerigos Interinos_ (occasional preachers).

The monastery of the _Recoletos_, or Reformed Augustinians, offers a not less impressive prospect than that of the Franciscans. Here, too, the occupants permit to appear a careless indifference utterly destructive of the value of their ghostly ministration. As we entered, the brethren of the order had finished their mid-day repast. Some of the monks were still sitting in a dirty, gloomy verandah round a table on which was spread a table-cloth stained with food and drink, while in front of each stood a half-empty wineglass. A lay brother announced us, upon which one of the monks rose to bid us welcome. From his rather jovial appearance, and the suspicious colour of his nose, we presumed he was the cellarer, and were not a little surprised when, in the course of conversation, he announced that it was the Prior himself who was speaking with us.