1842.] productions. 453 



they have rarely damaged any other buildings except the 

 churches. 



Nearly all the trade of the Philippines is carried on through 

 Manilla, the extent of whose commerce has been already 

 mentioned. Besides the manufacture of cigars, under the 

 auspices of the government, which gives employment to so 

 many of the native females, great numbers of them occupy 

 themselves, principally at home, in weaving cotton and hempen 

 cloths and silks, and in plaiting rice straw, and splints of 

 wood, into hats, cigar-cases, and matting, of various patterns. 

 From a species of pine-apple, produced in abundance on the 

 island of Panay, a thin, gossamer fabric, called pina, of a yel- 

 lowish color, is manufactured also by the women. The web 

 of the pina is so fine, that it is necessary to weave it in a 

 room from which all currents of air are excluded, by means 

 of gauze screens placed in the windows. It is riohly embroi- 

 dered, and made into dresses, scarfs, caps, collars, cufTs, and 

 pocket-handkerchiefs, which are very beautiful, and highly ex- 

 pensive, and much sought after by foreigners and residents 

 who possess the means to purchase them. 



The Philippines are nominally under the dominion of Spain, 

 and her authority is exerted throughout the greater part of 

 the group. Two of the largest islands, however, Palawan and 

 Magindanao, are chiefly inhabited by Malays and Papuans, 

 who have never been subjected by the Spanish, and claim to 

 be entirely independent of them, acknowledging no allegiance 

 except to their own chiefs. The group is divided into thirty 

 provinces, sixteen of which are on the island of Luzon. At 

 the head of the government, as the representative of the Span- 

 ish sovereign, is the captain-general, or governor, who resides 

 at Manilla, and deputes his authority to lieutenant-governors 

 on the other important islands. Every province has its 

 alcalde, and is sub-divided into pueblos, each of which has its 

 separate intendant. 



(3.) But little time was spent by the American vessels at 

 Manilla. They left the bay on the evening of the 21st of 

 January, and proceeded to the southward. Passing through 



