Chapter VI: Part 6

This method is very unlike that employed in the Philippines, and the natives of the islands need have no fear of Indian competition under such conditions. The fibre will not bear the pressure of cylinders without damage in color, while the soaking of the stems is sure to weaken it. The experiments in India failed to distinguish between the Indian hemp and Manila hemp plants, which belong to different families, and require radically different treatment.

The islands of Leyte and Marinduque, and certain districts in the large island of Luzon yield the finest quality of hemp. The province of Albay, the leading hemp-district of Luzon, cannot be surpassed in quantity and quality of yield, its annual hemp-crop averaging about 20,000 tons. Before 1825 the demand was little, and the hemp-yield insignificant. Since then, the growing demand has greatly developed the culture, the crop of 1840 being about 8,500 tons, in 1880 about 50,000 tons. It has been steadily on the increase.

The United States receives the greatest proportion of this product, nearly all the remainder going to Great Britain and her Australian colonies. Manila is the principal port of shipment: the bales are sent thither from the plantations.

Experience of a Planter.

For those that desire statistics, I may repeat the statement made to me in person by an Albay planter. The plantation of this gentleman, in which he had invested a capital of $60,000, embraced 1800 acres, planted at the time of purchase with shoots of two years' growth, and therefore needing one year more before cutting. There was a store-house on the estate capable of holding 5000 piculs, or 695,000 pounds of hemp (a picul is 139 pounds). The purchase also included a bale-press and shed, a plot prepared for sun-drying, two horses, and a vehicle.

The working expenses of this plantation, including the various items of salaries to overseers, clerks, and storekeepers, wages to natives, living and traveling expenses of overseer, fire insurance, office expenses, freight to Manila, loading, commission, storage, and minor items, were $10,000. In this were included some loss by stealing, and several hundred dollars loss by waste.

In one year the planter received in Manila $27,000 for his dried bales of hemp-fibre, making a net profit of thirty per cent. on invested capital. It must be remembered, however, that in Albay province the conditions for the investor in abacá-planting are of the best. Equal results cannot be expected elsewhere.

What the Hemp Is Used For.

Manila hemp is principally used in the manufacture of mats, sail cloth, and cordage. Out of the old ropes the well-known stout brown wrapping-paper is made--the Manila paper of commerce. In Paris the imported hemp-fibre is used in the manufacture of carpets, tapestry, net-work, hammocks; and even in the making of bonnets.

The natives obtain small quantities of very fine hemp-fibre from the carefully-selected edges of the petiole, or leaf-stalk, and from this they weave an exquisite, fine, silky material, suitable for gowns. This fibre is worth twice as much as first-class cordage hemp. The difficulties with the weave lie in the fragility, and, consequently, the frequent breakages of the thread; hence the expense of the material. On one of the islands a fabric is made from fine hemp and pine-leaf fibre. This the natives endeavor to sell to foreigners for pure piña, which is as fine and soft as Bengal muslin. The fraud is detected by the lack of flexibility in the material, it having a horse-hair stiffness. Any one that has ever touched a soft, silky, pine-leaf fibre handkerchief, for instance, would easily distinguish the difference.

Lastly, in enumerating the valuable qualities of manila hemp, I may state that the poorer classes of the natives of the Philippine Islands wear clothes that they manufacture from the ordinary fibre; and that even the bags in which the fresh coffee-beans are sent from the islands to foreign markets are made from the same material.

I may say, in concluding this subject, that hemp is the most important article of Philippine product, and that its production is capable of being greatly increased. The official documents that I have examined in Manila show that within the last decade the United States has received fully forty per cent. of all the hemp-product of the islands. In the ten years previous to 1898 a single firm in Boston bought 79,000 tons of hemp, paying for it an average price of 3 cents a pound in the Manila market. During this period the total export of hemp was 914,100 tons. The import to the United States during the same time averaged in value $2,400,000 a year. A liberal and progressive administration will soon increase this tenfold.

CULTURE AND USE OF TOBACCO.

The Cultivation of Tobacco, a State Monopoly.

The seed of the tobacco plant was introduced into the Philippines from Mexico by Spanish missionaries. It is an annual, grows to the height of five or six feet, and varies greatly in flavor, not only in different provinces, but in different places in the same province. Luzon has always been more directly under the control of the Spaniards than any other part of the Archipelago. As it contains the capitol--literally the seat of Government--it is from this island that every unjust and cruel edict has proceeded since the time of the conquest. Indeed, Spain has never tried to govern more than half a dozen of the islands; and while all of the Philippines are nominally under her suzerainty, there are at least two hundred of them filled with fierce and intractable tribes--and these she has not even explored. But it is Luzon that, from first to last, has felt most heavily the weight of her iron hand. On that island, in 1781, the cultivation of tobacco was formally declared a State monopoly.

This lasted just a year and a century. The Government, after long debate on the subject, decided that, on the whole, it would be more profitable and less troublesome to demand a high license, and place the enterprise in the hands of private dealers.

The monopoly was accordingly abolished, December 31st, 1882. The natives fought against this. They had suffered horribly from State regulations. They feared to suffer more from private persecution. The friars, however, the real rulers of the Philippines, decided against the monopoly; and, notwithstanding that it was the largest source of public revenue on the islands, it was abolished.

Oppressive Conditions in Luzon.

From 1781 to 1882, then, in Luzon the following conditions prevailed: First, in the Philippines natives were never allowed to own land,--the property of the State. By paying for the privilege they might receive permission to cultivate the soil. During the continuance of the monopoly, in certain districts in northern Luzon, only tobacco plants were permitted to be placed in the ground. Not one foot of his poor little plot could the native use for his own subsistence. Moreover, he was forced to contract with the Government to raise 4000 plants a year; not one leaf of which could he call his own.

Every family was bound to produce a given quantity annually; while a shortage in returns was punished with beating, fines, confiscation, or imprisonment.

In some of the districts selected the islanders were too wild and insubordinate to follow directions in the planting, the preparing, and in the drying of the leaf. Emigrants were therefore sent from the vicinity of Manila, and were provided with land, homes, food, and clothing.

Their subsequent fate was pitiable. Spies of the Government visited the native houses at all hours, in search of concealed tobacco. Every nook and corner of the little dwelling would be ransacked time and again, and the women of the family subjected to rude and insulting personal inspection.

And these harassing visits were made at disquieting intervals; sometimes two or three days in succession; so that the easy and indolent Filipino was kept in haunting terror of incursions.

At the Government headquarters of the district, the dried leaves were carefully examined by the Inspector. Those that he approved he paid for; the rest were burned.

If an Indian were caught smoking one of his own cigars, within a few steps of his own airing-sheds, he was seized and fined. The offence, arrest, and conviction cost him dear: about $8.00 if he were smoking a cigar; about $2.00, if a cigarette.

In a country where the monotony of life is mitigated by the soothing effects of the leaf, and where men and women smoke as inevitably--and almost as naturally--as they eat, these constant and harassing exactions became maddening. The burning of the rejected bundles was felt to be especially cruel and unnecessary. But the Inspector was inexorable.

All these combined causes, and particularly the insults to women, frequently brought about bloody encounters between the people and the servants of the State.

There are numberless cases where Indians live on the land cultivated by their ancestors, and cling to it; and, in their ignorance, feel it to be their own. The Government, however, with its usual treachery, finally took advantage of this attachment, and, while exacting full returns from the natives, paid them only in part, or in depreciated currency.

How Speculators Take Advantage of the Natives.

Sharpers from Manila made their way into the tobacco districts as soon as this was known, buying large sums in Treasury notes for small quantities of specie; and so needy were the natives, and so rooted their distrust of Spain, that they made the exchange eagerly, glad to get into their hands the smallest quantity of the money they were familiar with--genuine gold.

Every effort was made to confine the growth of tobacco to certain selected districts controlled by the State, but, in spite of this, concealed plantations were continually being cultivated in remote provinces, and a large body of picked men and many revenue cutters were constantly in the employ of the Government. It was their duty to discover and destroy these plantations, punish the growers, confiscate the leaf, and break up the smuggling.

But, despite these precautions and drastic measures, the initiated always knew where to obtain a good cigar for about one-fourth of what was paid for it in a Manila shop. Expedition after expedition was sent to distant islands, to discover and punish the growers and manufacturers of illicit tobacco, and stubborn fights ensued, the friars invariably being on the side of the natives.

These were the abuses and revolts that finally led to the abolition of the monopoly.

Private enterprise in the islands has its own hard ways to accomplish its own unscrupulous ends, and whether Company, individual, or Government is in power, the result is always the same--the native is cheated, suffers, is pushed to the wall.

The Quality of Manila Tobacco.

Since 1882 it is a matter of common complaint that there is not so much care taken in the preparing of the leaf: this requires great skill and unwearied attention to detail, inasmuch, as if overheated, or left too long in the airing-sheds, something precious is lost in quality and in aroma.

Cuban cigars are not sold in the colony, and the old residents believe the flavor of their own tobacco incomparable. The outside world, however, gives the preference to the Cuban brand. Indeed, at one time the Government tried to introduce seed from Cuba, but, owing to mismanagement, the scheme failed. Such an inferior quality of leaf sometimes finds its way into Manila, and is sold for such low prices, that one wonders what profit there can be in cultivating it. This is, of course, worked off on the poorer natives.

The tobacco trade is still a monopoly in Spain, and the Philippines are under contract to provide the home factories with 98,000 cwt. of dried leaf per annum. Enormous fortunes are made in a short time in this product.

When the infamous Weyler was Governor-General of the Philippines, his two brothers were in this business in Binondo. They went back to Madrid in a few years, and lived like princes.

The fact remains, however, that while a very superior article of cigar and cigarette is made in the factories of Manila and its vicinity, if the colony wishes to compete with other countries, the tobacco planters must raise the standard of quality all along the line.

Methods of Preparing the Tobacco Leaf.

There are several large tobacco factories in Binondo, the trading centre of Manila; one in particular employing 15,000 men, women, and children, at an average wage of 15 cents a day. The working hours are from seven to twelve in the morning, and from two to five in the afternoon. Just at sunset, I have often seen the operatives leave this factory in droves, and thousands of them immediately plunge into the waters of Manila Bay, where they swam about in the surf, rolling, tumbling, and shouting like children.

I have repeatedly gone through the factories, following the leaf from bale to finish; and it is an interesting sight. Color and quality are decided by a lightning expert, and quick and thorough is the whole process, till the finished cigars are packed in cedar boxes, labeled for the market. Cedar-wood seems part of the charm.

Innumerable efforts have been made to use other and less expensive woods in packing, but without avail: either the cedar conserves the aroma better, or, more likely, it adds a special quality of its own, which, through long habit, the confirmed smoker finds indispensable to his enjoyment.

The Escalante region is noted for the fine tobacco grown there, though sugar, of course, is the most important crop. The tobacco is rich-flavored, and by many experts is deemed the most desirable leaf in all the Visayas.

But it is generally agreed that the best quality of Island tobacco is that grown in the provinces of northern Luzon, the most valued coming from Cagayan and La Isabela.

Old residents invariably prefer Island tobacco; but the English, as the Americans, and the peninsular Spaniard choose, instead, the famous Vuelto Abajo of Cuba, and think they get it. Millions of "Havana" cigars, made of Philippine leaf, are sold in Manila under the name of this brand. In fact, the two styles--Manila and Cuban--are manufactured in almost equal quantities, differing in size and shape, but not in quality. The expert, at the selecting table, divides his heap into many different colors. Only five, however, are known to the trade. They are: Maduro, Colorado Maduro, Colorado, Colorado Claro, and Claro.

The filling of a cigar is called tripa, or tripe; the wrapper, capa, or overcoat. From the factory I have mentioned, alone, a million and a half of cigars are shipped to Europe every month. The strong, dark brands go to Spain. England takes every kind. The lighter colors are preferred in America.

Tobacco-leaves for cigarettes are cut into thread--generally called "long cut,"--and the whole process of making is done by one machine. I have seen nine of these hard at work, each turning out 12,000 cigarettes a day, making 38,000,000 in a year.

Smoking, a Universal Habit.

Smoking goes on in the Philippines everywhere but in church--in the hotel dining-room as soon as coffee is served, and at the theatre or opera while the audience is gathering, and between the acts. Even your cab-driver will offer you a cigar, if he thinks you have none. Spanish women of wealth and rank--grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and nieces sit on the balconies of their beautiful residences in the capital, puffing away at their cigarillos,--a tiny brand made especially for feminine consumption; while in some homes men and women help themselves from the same box.

It is an incongruous sight, and one hostile to the accepted ideas of a splendid type of primitive man, to see in the depths of remote provinces native men and women, young and old, of striking physical proportions, the men nude but for the flimsy breech-clout, smoking away at cigars, cigarettes, and even pipes; and at every possible and impossible angle of incidence.

For cigars and cigarettes have for many years been sold everywhere throughout the colony,--in even the remotest hamlets.

Besides, considerable stimulus has been given to the smoking habit in the wildest provinces by travelers, who, to ingratiate themselves with the half-savage natives of distant provinces, or to keep them from speculating whether one is a Spaniard or not, and thereby arousing their ire, bountifully dispense cigars and cigarettes wherever they go.

And so the dominant and absorbing habit of the Filipinos is to smoke.

Indeed, the common habit of smoking makes it possible to realize the Arabian Nights' stories of fabulous fortunes made in the Philippines in a short time from the cultivation, preparation, and manufacture of the fragrant leaf.

THE CULTIVATION OF COFFEE.

The Origin of the Industry.

In the early part of the nineteenth century several Spaniards began the cultivation of coffee in a little valley away at the north end of Luzon. The trees they planted were the first coffee plants ever known on the island. A small wild animal, somewhat like a weasel, somewhat like a fox, began eating and scattering the growing berries, until in this way myriads of the little creatures had unwittingly sown coffee seeds over all the island.

Some of these original plants still bear fruit, thousands of pounds being gathered from the wild bushes. Plantation owners in that vicinity, the province of Batangas, have, indeed, assured me that the trees possessed by their grandfathers are still vigorous; while it is also a well-known fact that in many other coffee-producing colonies the plants are quite exhausted by the end of the thirtieth year.

Manila coffee is highly prized in Spain and her dependencies. They have, of course, nothing so rich in flavor as the Mocha bean of Arabia, but a kind, called caracolillo, that resembles it in taste and in shape. It has only one seed to the berry, while, on the other hand, all other varieties have two.

The merchants in Manila are extremely cautious in their dealings with the provincial planters, giving the preference to coffee from Cavité, Batangas, and La Laguna. In Mindanao coffee is sent to the market without being looked over, the result being a distasteful compound of good and bad beans. This is sold to the unfastidious natives at very low prices, but is wholly unfit for European consumption.

Indifference of Coffee-planters.

Cavité planters--whether Spaniard or Indian--show an indifference to a dozen details that their competitors in the other provinces named are extremely particular about. They are careless in the selecting of sites for their plantations, which should be on hilly ground; careless in the choice of the soil, of the seed, in pruning, in attention to the ripe fruit; in detaching the bean from its outer coating; and, above all, in many places, careless to separate the good beans from the bad. All this is due to the inertness of the planter and to the indolence of his laborers.

And while this continues, the Philippines will never be known as one of the great coffee-producing countries of the world; though its possibilities in that direction are simply incalculable.

Speculation in Coffee.

Coffee is a good deal of a speculation in the islands. Collectors drive about paying for crops still ungathered. Moreover, if the large planters do not produce enough to fill their contracts, they depend upon the small plots of the natives,--which will account for much variety in the bean, and for the occasional extremely-poor quality already spoken of. The money advanced is always gauged by the price per picul that coffee brought the year before in the Manila market.

For instance, if it then cost $12 a picul, $8 will be advanced to the planter on the crops in the ground. The collector always tries to protect himself by a pretty good margin. He occasionally loses, however. In one case, some years ago, coffee advanced to $31 a picul, and enormous fortunes were made.

Fluctuations are constantly occurring in the coffee market, owing to the peculiar nature of the transactions, as purchases are invariably made before the crop has come to fruition. But a startling rise like the one mentioned, is unprecedented in the history of the trade, and is hardly likely to occur again.

Methods of Cultivation.

A coffee-site, as I have said, should be chosen on high ground, and on the side of a hill; for the reason that, while the body of the plant requires a great degree of moisture, which is given by the heavy rains of the country, the roots, on the other hand, must be kept dry.

The ground is cleared--generally by fire--and fenced in. Like hemp, the coffee tree needs careful shading, and to insure this the next process is to plant slips of the madre cacao, in straight rows, about one Spanish yard apart. When these reach the height of three feet, the coffee-shoots are placed at intervals in the holes prepared for them, having been soaked for two or three days in water.

As the plantation becomes too thick, trees and plants are removed--care being taken, however, to preserve the symmetrical appearance of the whole, as it is imperative for the health of the tree that no coffee-shoots or branches should touch one another.

In its natural state, the tree grows to the height of twenty-five feet, but constant pruning is necessary, and the tree, when properly cared for, is kept down to seven or eight feet. Returns are expected four years after planting.

There are few things more beautiful than a well-ordered coffee estate in full bloom. Straight and stately avenues cross each other in every direction. The plant has long glossy leaves, like the laurel; the blossoms are snowy-white, and in shape resemble the jasmine, and their fragrance is exquisite; while overhead the madre foliage grows dense, protecting the more delicate plant from too much sun, too pelting a storm, too wild a blast. The fruit, when ripe, is of a dark scarlet color, and the ordinary berry contains two seeds, glued together and covered with a membrane. The mocha of Arabia and the caracolillo of Manila are richer in flavor than the other varieties, and, as already stated, have but one bean, thus differing in shape from those of the ordinary berry.

The neighborhood of Lipa is noted for its wealth and for many coffee estates round about. A number of the planters there have sedulously done all in their power to attain perfection in the growing, dressing, sorting, and marketing of the bean. Along their own lines, too, they have overcome obstacles, and have effected certain success. And some of the estates are beautiful and most prosperously ordered. I have driven through them and ridden over them, and have invariably admired them, and, admiring, I have marveled at the landscape-gardening effects produced on what was seemingly so commercial a basis. Ruskin's own ideas of beauty in every-day life and in lowly occupation can not find a more delightful and satisfying illustration than in the environment in which masses of laborers delve and toil upon some of the Lipa coffee estates.

In the Philippines the coffee berries are gathered by hand from the trees,--men, women, and children assisting in the process. The fruit is then put aside in heaps, and in a few days is washed. In this way much of the pulp is detached and discarded. The remainder is placed in a mortar and pounded until the clean bean emerges, which, in the bulk, forms the coffee of commerce. This is sent, in coarse bags of hemp, to Manila for sale.

The ripe berries, when sun-dried, lose over 50 per cent. of moisture.

Harsh Methods of the Government.

The Government at Madrid, with its usual heavy, tyrannous policy, has imposed extra licenses on the planting of coffee, and laid a heavy import duty on the machinery lately introduced and used to prepare the bean for market.

The formation of the Philippine Archipelago is peculiarly adapted to the cultivation of coffee and hemp. To say it once more: Both need high altitudes, and to be grown on the sides of hills or mountains. On most of the islands a range runs north and south, rising sometimes to the height of nine thousand feet.

The laborers on a coffee estate expect to receive one-half the produce for their work in caring for the crop, which includes ploughing,--something essential to the health of the tree,--cultivating, picking, and drying the fruit, and preparing the bean for transport to Manila.

The hard methods of the Government regarding the coffee bean, the difficulties of the grower in obtaining reliable assistance, and the fluctuations of the trade will probably account for the small quantity produced under Spanish auspices. The island of Negros alone is so accessible that the coffee production there ought to be enormous. In 1897 the exportation amounted to about $250,000. Under almost any other government it would have reached $3,000,000.

BETEL NUT, GRAIN, AND FRUIT-GROWING.

The Areca Palm and the Betel Nut.

Every wild country, it appears, has its favorite soporific, and in the Philippines the fruit of the areca palm is a necessity to most of the natives, just as opium is to the average East Indian, but it is far less deleterious. The manner of its use is as follows: A slice of the nut is wrapped in a buyo leaf, covered with lime, made from oyster shells, and then chewed. The whole is called betel, and the betel-eater is constantly spitting what seems arterial blood; this, together with the sanguinary appearance of his gums, teeth, and lips, makes him disgusting to contemplate.

The areca palm for its nut, and the buyo palm for its leaf, are carefully and extensively cultivated. The latter must be used fresh, and quantities of the green leaves are sold in the markets daily. The effects of betel-chewing seems to be similar to that of the coca of Peru; in moderation, the stimulus to the stomach is excellent; and in both cases it is possible to labor for hours without food, if only the native--Philippine or Peruvian--has an ample supply of his favorite drug. Temperate use of either is positively beneficial. Abuse, in both cases, produces delirium and death.

There are nearly one thousand warehouses and retail shops in Manila for the sale of the areca nut, or for the fresh buyo leaf and lime necessary in its preparation; or for the slices wrapped and ready for immediate use. The buyo leaf is hot to the taste. When bruised and placed on the wound it is an antidote to the bite of the most venomous snakes. It is useful in cholera; and water in which the leaf has been steeped, is used by mothers as an outside application in cases of infant colic.

The Nipa Palm and Nipa Wine.

The nipa palm looks like a gigantic fern. It grows in swamps, and its leaves are deemed invaluable for the thatching of native huts. A tall grass, called cógon, is also used for this purpose. From the fruit-stalks of the nipa a wine is distilled that is a Government monopoly; and the art of manufacturing brandy from sugar-cane seems to be aboriginal. The inhabitants of the most distant islands and provinces have a patient, slow, inglorious way of making their favorite drink. The fermented juice is boiled in four-gallon jugs; the steam then escapes through bamboo pipes, is cooled, and condensed by a primitive arrangement overhead, running water passing through a hollow log,--and the liquor falls into another large stone jug. It is extremely strong and pure, and small quantities of the drink are not unhealthful. The natives of the Philippines, as I have said so often, hate to trouble themselves about anything, and are impatient of slow processes; they will, however, take infinite pains in the distillation of sugar-cane brandy. The rewards, though slow, are definite, enchanting, and, above everything else, personal.

Various Fruits of the Islands.

The fruits of the Philippines include many varieties well-known in American markets,--bananas, shaddocks, oranges, lemons, citrons, and pineapples. Others are the usual ones found in the tropics, and nowhere else; and none is to be compared to the apple, peach, grape, cherry, and strawberry of the temperate zone.

The durian, however, is extremely luscious. It is large as a pineapple, and has a delicious white pulp. It requires a great deal of courage to open it, as the rough outside-skin has a monstrous odor of decaying flesh.

The favorite fruit is the mango. Of this, quantities are partaken daily in the season.

Guava, from which jelly is made, grows wild.

The pawpaw tree also grows wild, and is valuable to the natives. The bruised leaves exude a saponaceous liquid, that is used in the washing of clothes, and has the cleansing effect of soap. The fruit is cooling, but tasteless. It is said to contain pepsin, and is used by invalids with weak digestion.

Bananas are both wild and cultivated; seventy-seven varieties are found on the islands. The fruit is a staple article of food; and a cloth is woven from the fibre that natives make up into garments. A coarse paper is also made of it.

Cereals and Vegetables.

A native cannot own land. He may hold it under certain conditions. What these are in the tobacco districts has been stated. The regulations outside these districts are as follows:--

He must plant useful trees, suitable to the soil; raise wheat, rye, maize, vegetables, cotton, pepper; maintain every species of appropriate cattle; keep fruit growing in his orchards and around his house; have at least twelve hens, one cock, and a sucking pig. Failing in these impossible conditions, the land may be confiscated at the end of two years.

The missionaries have always helped the natives to divide their farms, plan their cultivation, and garner their harvests; they introduced the useful maize and wheat, as well as melons and garden-truck--peas, beans, cucumbers, onions, and other vegetables. Potatoes are very much in demand, but, so far, have not been successfully cultivated; being literally what the Americans call "small potatoes and few in a hill."

Cotton and Indigo-planting.

Cotton is cheaply produced, and in quantities sufficient to supply the domestic trade. There is no reason why it should not be made a matter of large foreign export.

Indigo plants grow in the wildest luxuriance throughout the Philippines. Owing to the richness of the soil but little labor is required in their cultivation, and annual returns are expected of 50 per cent. on the capital employed. There are people now living magnificently in Paris and Madrid that owe their revenues to indigo plantations in the colony; the Alvarado family, for instance, whose immense estate is on the island of Sámar, and whose income from this source is nearly $55,000 a year.

There was once a prejudice against Manila indigo among European purchasers. This, however, has been removed by improved processes and greater care on the part of growers and manufacturers. The crops are not so certain as those of hemp, tobacco, or coffee. They are likely also to be injured by hurricanes and eaten by caterpillars. Nevertheless, the estate-owners seem to flourish.

The Cocoa Industry.

Cocoa and chocolate are the product of the cacao tree, introduced early in the history of the islands by missionaries from Mexico. The fruit is red in color and shaped like a large cucumber. The beans, or kernels, are arranged in regular rows through the pulp, varying in size and in number. They average twenty to the single fruit, and generally have the size, and always the appearance, of almonds, with hard skins. They are also very bitter. Whether dried in the sun or roasted in ovens, the process must be done as soon as the fruit is gathered, else the flavor of the kernel is injured. The beans are very oily, and in manufacturing cocoa much of the fat is extracted. This makes the drink more suitable for children and invalids.

To make chocolate, the beans are dried, the skins removed, and the mass is pounded in a mortar, then placed upon a rolling board and rolled. Quantities of sugar are added to neutralize the bitterness of the kernel, with vanilla to give the whole flavor. This makes a paste that is a great favorite with all classes of Spaniards and natives, both as a confection and when made into a beverage; yet but little more of the fruit is grown on the islands than is necessary for home consumption. The dried bean is safe as an export, but the cacao tree has many enemies; and when the crop has come to ripening, in spite of threatened disease and destroying vermin, it may be ruined by a tempest in a single hour. These vicissitudes discourage the planter, who seldom tries to do more than secure enough of the cacao bean for family use. The trees are usually planted in gardens near the house, and the chocolate-paste is made at home. A small quantity of the bean is sent annually to Spain; and there is a chocolate factory in Manila for the benefit of those that do not care to trouble themselves with either the growth of the fruit or the preparation of the kernel. The oil of the cocoa is used also for lighting the houses and streets.

It is impossible to find better chocolate than that made by the friars of the Philippines. Special pains are taken with the cacao tree, which is planted in the orchards and gardens of the monasteries, and in the manufacture of the paste and in the making of the beverage. Care must be used in the selection of soil and locality; the tree must be shaded by the taller banana; the planter must be able to risk the loss of an occasional harvest, caused by vermin, disease, or tempest; and in good years the planter will get a return of 90 per cent. on his capital. The fact remains, however, that few colonists are willing to take chances in a crop, that, at the last minute, can be easily ruined.

The Traffic in Birds' Nests.

The Philippine Islands are rich in growths that would seem strange to an American--edible birds'-nests, roots, nuts, grasses, fruits, and the like. The bird's nest is sold in large quantities to the Chinese, who make a soup of it,--nauseous, indeed, to foreigners. It is built by a little creature resembling the swallow; is pasty-white in appearance, dotted with red spots. The nests are found high up, in almost inaccessible caves, on cliffs above the sea. Nest-gathering is an occupation by itself, very dangerous, and followed by natives of only extreme hardihood and agility. The birds are robbed of their nests as soon as they are completed, and this first gathering is sold to the Chinese at enormous prices. The bird patiently builds another home, and is again despoiled. The second gathering, however, is deemed second-class in the market; and the third gathering is even more inferior. And 'tis only the approach of the rainy season that protects the bird in the laying of its eggs and in the care of its young.

USEFUL WOODS AND PLANTS.

The Huge Forests.

There are great forests of costly woods in the colony, mahogany, sapan-wood, log-wood, iron-wood, ebony, and cedar; beside fifty varieties not known to European markets, but eagerly sought for by merchants from China. The cedar is almost exclusively used in making cigar boxes; and I have seen beautiful knotted and polished war clubs of iron-wood used by the remoter savages in their battles with other tribes; they are as black as ebony, and nearly as hard as steel. These various woods yield logs from eighteen to seventy feet in length. The molave is especially valuable: the sea-worm cannot bore it, the white ant eat it; nor is it affected by water or by climate. It is used for the frames of vessels, and would be unsurpassed for railroad ties, being practically invulnerable.

The palma brava is used in the making of bridges, piles, and piers--wherever, in short, resistance to water is necessary.

Lanete-wood is useful in carving and in the making of musical instruments, or elsewhere where delicacy is required, as well as strength.

From sapan a rich crimson dye is extracted. This is obtained by cutting the smaller branches into little pieces and soaking them in boiling water. This dye is much esteemed, but is not so permanent as that made from cochineal.

There are many hundreds of islands in the Philippines with thousands of miles of virgin forests, with woods suitable for ship-building, houses, cars, fittings, furniture, wharves, bolts, axe-handles, carriages, wheels, and everything else that timber is used for; besides some exquisite pink, red, yellow, and veined varieties, capable of high polish, and suitable for veneering and for dye-woods. The saps of many trees, also, give a hard, durable glaze.

Magnificent orchids abound in all parts of the Philippines. One specimen was recently sold for $500. And there are rubber trees that have hardly been worked, but have, nevertheless, a future of great importance.

The Bamboo Plant and its Uses.

The most beautiful plant in the colony is bamboo. It grows everywhere except in marshy places--on the hills, along the banks of rivers, in open spaces, and in woods. Groups of bamboos are invariably cultivated by the natives in the vicinity of their homes. It has a light, feathery, tufted top, that waves in the slightest breeze and gives a spirited look to the landscape. It frequently grows to the height of fifty or sixty feet, is from five to eight inches in diameter, and strongly jointed, every joint strengthened by an inside web.

There are also many smaller kinds.

The plant is constantly propagated by the natives from young shoots; for bamboo-sticks always bring their price in Manila markets, according to size and season. There are several varieties; and the uses to which they are put are endless, the wood being tough, flexible, and elastic.

From bamboo-sticks huts, houses, and churches are made; and even roofed and thatched. For the latter, however, nipa palm and cógon grass are preferred. Bridges are constructed of them several hundred feet in length, over which a drove of elephants could safely cross; they are used in the making of furniture, walls, flooring, rafts, scaffolding, carts, baskets, vessels to contain liquid, and measures for wheat, organs, and small instruments, and every kind of household utensil used by the natives. They are used, also, for weapons, for cordage, for hats, for mats, for palings, for carrying poles, for blowers to a furnace, and for condensing-pipes in making brandy,--and for a hundred other articles of amusement or convenience.

Bamboo-leaves are eaten by horses and cattle, and its tender shoots by man. In one variety of the cane a stone is occasionally found. This the Indians believe will heal sickness. In another kind is a white substance used to allay inflammation of the eye. This disease is very common in the colony, owing to the intensity of the sun-rays.

The rattan, or calamus family, is very much like the bamboo, and its varieties are only a little less useful. One kind, the bojo, is used for much the same things that the lighter bamboo is.

The Bejuco Rope.

The bejuco, or bush rope, a rattan, is sometimes three hundred feet long; indeed, it is said to have been found on one of the islands three times that length. It is used for rope, cords, or cable; to bind hemp-bags, sugar-bales, and bundles; to lash together whatever breaks down or gives way, in house, harness, carriage, cart, machinery, or package; in the city street, in the country, on the mountain, in the wilderness. The thickest bejuco is used for rafts and cables, and, in conjunction with bamboo, for the making of suspension bridges. And the delicate fibres are woven into cloth, and even made into hats and cigar cases.

The Useful Cocoanut Palm.

Cocoanut plantations are among the surest sources of revenue in the Philippines. The fruit is in demand in every market in the world--as much so as oranges and lemons; and every part of the tree can be sold. It thrives best on sandy soil, near the sea-shore, and cocoanut-groves are expected to produce a profit of $250 an acre annually.

In many provinces this palm is cultivated for the oil only, which is then used either at home or is shipped to Europe. In the European climate it is solid and is made into soap and candles. In the islands the heat reduces it to a liquid, which is used for oiling machinery, for lighting, and for cooking purposes. The nightly terror of the region is a possible impending earthquake, and so in every house or hut a tiny light burns from dark to dawn: a glass is half-filled with water; on top is poured a small quantity of cocoanut oil, and in this floats a wick, protected by a strip of tin. This arrangement has the illuminating qualities of a brilliant firefly, but in cases of illness or fright other lamps can be lighted quickly, and the panic of darkness averted.

The majority of the inhabitants use cocoanut oil from reasons of economy. The factories are small bamboo huts, and the process primitive. The nuts are first dried, then halved and scraped,--an easy process while the pulp is fresh. The mass is then pressed, to express the oil, and the refuse boiled in order to obtain what is left of the fatty substance. This is skimmed off. The whole is then packed into kegs, and is ready for the markets of Manila or Madrid. The meat of the nut is eaten as food by the natives, or made into sweets. The milk, or water, is a refreshing and harmless drink, and makes good vinegar also. The shell is carved into household utensils, and when burnt makes a valuable dye. Every part of the tree is used. The native dwells in a house made of the trunk and thatched with the leaves. From it he obtains light, fire, rope, brushes, mats, furniture, clothing, and, in fact, all the necessaries of life. In Europe and America the coir, or outer covering of the cocoanut shell, is made into ropes and cocoa-matting.

Besides all this, the sap of the tree forms a delightful beverage, called tuba. Incisions are made high up in the flowering stalk, and underneath these cuts, vessels are hung to the tree, in order to catch the liquor as it falls. This is removed at sunrise and sunset, and is served fresh at the different houses. For it there is a daily demand. The dealer, too, has it for sale in the market-place.

A distilled wine is also made from this, called cocoa-wine. Tuba trees are never used for fruit, as the loss of the sap deprives them of their producing-power. And tuba-gathering is extremely dangerous. The natives are obliged to climb to a great height to make the incisions and gather the liquor, and a false step means certain death.

Oppressive Regulations of the Government.

The Government is very jealous of foreign growers. There is a well-known case of a young Englishman that invested in a cocoanut grove, a few years ago, not far from Manila. He was ruined in a short time by taxes and exactions--on the score that he was not a native. The real reason, however, was the fear that his success would draw round him a British colony.

On the other hand, Spaniards and natives find no difficulty to obtain concessions from the Government, under promise of cultivating the land so taken. The regulations are so vague or so impossible, that they are inevitably broken. The proprietor, too, is never sure of his land: it can be forfeited by disobedience; and lawsuits are constantly going on between the individual and the State.

This condition of affairs is of course annoying to everyone concerned, yet no one ever thinks of changing the laws. To a Spaniard, what was good enough for his grandfather is quite good enough for himself.

The Early Missionaries Beneficial to the Natives.

The early missionaries from Mexico were of the greatest benefit to the Filipinos, both in the religious and in the practical affairs of life. They introduced the use of wheat and maize, taught the natives how to cultivate these articles of food, and, when ripe, how to make them into bread. But there were many stubborn prejudices to overcome; and for a long time wheat was eaten by the natives only in the holy wafer used in the sacrament of the Church.

Now, wheat-patches are common, and in many districts maize is as much a staple article of food as rice is in others, and roasted ears of corn are sold as a delicacy in the markets. There are three crops of maize grown in a year, but only for family use.

The missionaries also introduced the art of weaving, and all through the islands a primitive bamboo-loom is one of the commoner implements of the smallest hut. Here are woven fabrics of cotton, silk, hemp, bamboo, and piña,--the fibre of the pineapple leaf. The merely well-to-do and poorer classes wear clothes woven of cotton, silk, and piña, or of piña and hemp, or of hemp or bamboo. But the glory of the wealthy, Spaniard or Mestizo, man or woman, are their garments of pure pineapple-leaf fibre, called jusi. This is durable and almost priceless. A small jusi handkerchief is worth $50. So delicate is the thread, that, in weaving, it is protected by gauze from the gentlest breeze. The costliness of the material, therefore, is due to the difficulties of the weaver and to the time and patience necessary to produce even a single inch.

The missionaries, as well, taught the native the arts of living; of being more comfortable in his house, and out of it; of making bricks and tiles, and of building and adorning churches. And thus they stood between an exacting Government and the helpless natives, and were often the only Providence of which the latter were aware.

Herbs and medicinal plants abound in the islands. The bark of the ditá tree greatly resembles that known as Peruvian Bark, and is used by the natives to reduce fever. From it an alkaloid is extracted that is called by Manila chemists, ditaïne. Its effects are like those produced by swallowing quinine, only not so marked.

A perfume called Ylang-Ylang, is made from the flowers of a tree of that name that grows in the Philippines.

Large quantities of wax are found there, and are used in the functions of the Church. Indeed, the poor priests constantly gather candle-ends at the close of each service, and sell them to be remoulded. The small sums of money thus gained are deemed a part of their perquisites.

MINERAL WEALTH OF THE ISLANDS.

Early Search for Gold.

Mining for gold was unquestionably practiced in the Philippines long before the time of Magellan, and incredible stories were told by Spanish conquerors of the rich deposits on the islands, and of the weight and beauty of the bracelets, necklets, and anklets of pure metal worn by the natives. But the cruelty and robberies of Mexico and Peru were repeated there, and the Indians yielded their jewels and hoards to the ruthless conqueror.

Galleon after galleon sailed to Spain laden with the precious dust, and enormous rewards were bestowed upon pilot and captain that should convoy the treasure safely home. Winds, waves, and rocks were not the only enemies of the Spanish mariner, either. England has always had a hankering for the Philippines, and her fleets accordingly went out of their way many a time to despoil Spain. In his voyage round the world, Sir Francis Drake seized two prize-ships filled with island-gold, in token of whose riches one of his cruisers swaggered into the port of London with damask sails and silken cordage. And in the eighteenth century Anson's fleet hovered for years in the neighborhood of the Philippines, a rich prize occasionally his reward.

The Mining Laws and Methods of the Colony.

The mining laws of the colony are extremely liberal in character; almost any one--Spaniard, native, or foreigner--that discovers a mine, and reports it to the Government, is allowed to work it. Certain regulations exist, however, that must be strictly observed. The mine has to be worked uninterruptedly eight months of the year; no less than eight laborers shall be employed at a time; and it must be under the inspection of the Mining Department of the State.

The gold of these islands is produced by washing and digging. The tools that the natives use--a washing-board and a wooden bowl--are of great antiquity, and are invariably seen among the household utensils in the gold regions. Large deposits of gold are found in the beds of streams, and sometimes, after heavy rains, grains of the precious metal may be picked up in the streets of the small villages.

No Indian ever works systematically, or lays up anything for a possible future time of need. The tax-gatherer is at hand, and in a desultory way the native manages to get sufficient of the wherewithal to satisfy his greed. Or a holiday approaches, and there must be a few dollars to gamble away in the cock-pit. All this is done in the intervals of other work,--the planting of his own land, or the gathering of the rice-harvest for his employer. The gold lies about him, upon which he can draw at pleasure for his extra relaxations or needs. It is always there, has always been, will always be there. Why should he trouble himself further?

Mining, scientifically considered, as carried on in Europe and in America, is unknown in the Philippines. Nevertheless, from the first, so far as draining is concerned, operations have been conducted on sound engineering principles. The natives cling to ancient customs, and reject explosives of every sort, using instead the work of myriads of human hands; but they have been rewarded by obtaining thousands of ounces of gold.

For instance, in draining the mines, the shafts are filled with men that bail out the water with small buckets made of palm leaf, and holding about two gallons. These are passed from hand to hand, and this seems to serve their purpose quite as well as a more modern method. To an Anglo-Saxon the slowness of the process would, of course, be intolerable. The natives wash the river-sands, or grind the alluvial deposits between stones. In the latter instance the whole mass is thrown into grates, when the metal sinks to the bottom. In the mines the rocks are broken with hammers, and the quartz pulverized between mill-stones; then dissolved. By this means the gold is separated.

The inhabitants of one province cut a basin in the top of a mountain and conducted water to it through canals of palm-leaf. As they dug, the stratifications of gold revealed themselves and the quartz was detached. In another province a hillock has been cut down to sea-level, and large quantities of paying quartz must have been obtained, as the natives never work long without reward.

Mambulao is on the island of Luzon. It means in Bicol language, "the place of gold." Here is an abandoned mine, worked by the ancient methods. The records say that, in its time, it produced weekly sales of gold, amounting to one thousand ounces.

On the other hand, the Spaniards have conducted their mining operations without enterprise and without ingenuity, and during the last twenty-five years they have spent nearly a million and a half dollars, with results that are totally unsatisfactory.

There are several reasons for this state of affairs: The gold mines are mostly in remote provinces of the colony, and there are no practical roads. The natives that are employed--because they live in the vicinity of the mines--are half-subjected, totally uncivilized, and frequently nomadic. They accordingly resent interference with property that they deem their inalienable rights. And in this they are supported by the friars: they also dislike change.

Since 1894 the agents of the Philippines' Mineral Syndicate--an English concern--have been vigorously exploring for gold and the other metals, and in time American capital and intelligence will probably do what Spanish ignorance and inertness have failed to accomplish.

Where the Precious Metal is Found.

Till now, much of the gold found has been near the coast, and accessible. The principal districts are Mambulao, in Luzon, the islands of Cion, Mindoro, Mindanao, and Panaon, a small island north of Mindanao. It is a well-known fact that the natives in the interior of Luzon, a district only partly explored, traffic in gold. And it is believed that the mountains in the centre of the island are the sources of the alluvial deposits so freely gathered. In the districts mentioned there is not a stream--however small--that does not bear in its sands some evidence of the presence of gold; and heavy nuggets are occasionally brought in from the interior.

For the present, however, only the edges of the gold districts can be worked. The absence of roads must long prove an insuperable obstacle even to English and American capital and inventiveness. To the Indians this is no obstacle at all. They march along contentedly, in single file, cutting their way with bowie-knives through dense and almost impenetrable forests, their burden the primitive instruments of their ancestors; their power lying in numbers, and in the invincible strength of the naked hand.