The Monastic Orders. 301 



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. Tlie '' Flora de las 

 FilipinaSj^ the only botanical work which has ever been pub- 

 lished in the Spanish language, treating of this interesting 

 Archipelago, was compiled by an Augustinian monk, Fray 

 Manuel Blanco.* 



The number of monks resident in the monastery of Ma- 

 nila when we were there was 48, but there was room enough 

 for three times as many. Altogether there were of the Au- 

 gustinian 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-t 



quaintance of that official who would venture to ask even the simple question of 

 who any man is, who is under the protection of our order ! . . . Should you 

 like to ascend the Majay-jav, the highest hill in the interior ? An Augustinian 

 fricir shall accompany you thither. Should you care to make an excursion to the 

 Lagoons and thence proceed to the Pacific Ocean ? An Augustinian friar shall be 

 your guide. Have you a hankering to visit the forests of Ilocos, northward from 

 Manila, or to sail down the great river Lanatin ? An Augustinian shall arrange all 

 that for you. In one word, say what you wish to do ! " 



* Fray Manuel Blanco, whose portrait, the size of hfe, but by no means artistically 

 executed, adorns one of the corridors, was born 24th November, 1778, at Navianos, 

 in the province of Zamora in Spain, and died in the convent of Manila 1st April, 

 1845. 



t Of these there were in 1857, 373,569 Hable to taxation. Within the same year 

 there were 85,029 persons baptized, 16,768 married, and 49,999 buried with the rites 

 of the Chmch. 



