290 Voyage of the Novara. 



harbour-master's office, and have to pick our steps through a 

 dirty quarter of the town in order to reach the focus of pub- 

 lic 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 ex- 

 cluded from this privilege. The number of inhabitants with- 

 in 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-quai'ters of 



