Expedition to Manila. 289 



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 \\ miles 

 below the fortified walls of the city, which, though impregna- 

 ble to the attack of a native force, would probably be found 

 powerless to repel a European force attacking from sea- 

 ward. 



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 admin- 

 istrative 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 



VOL. II. 



