Excursion to Laguna de Bay. 325 



be most profitably taken up. Tliesc are the delicate almost 

 trans2)arent tissues prepared from the fibres of one of the 

 Bromeliaccce (cmanassa satlva), wliicli are used by the natives 

 for ornamental shirts, chemisettes^ and neck -laces, and are 

 known in commerce by the names of Pi7ia or grass-cloths.* 

 The threads of these textures are so thin, that they can only 

 be woven in apartments where there is not the slightest 

 breath of air. The natives contrive to weave them into the 

 most beautiful designs, and were they submitted to some 

 chemical process which should impart to the web a clearer 

 coloui', less of a dirty yellow, the world of taste would be en- 

 riched by the addition of one of the most exquisite materials 

 that could be presented to adorn the graceful form of woman, 

 and while seeming to conceal her charms, would but render 

 them more conspicuously attractive. 



Although the rainy season, during which we visited Manila, 

 was but little inviting for excursions, we yet could not resist 

 the temptation to make an excursion to the celebrated Laguna 

 de Bay, a short distance in the interior. Mr. J. Steffan, con- 

 sul for Bremen, a Swiss by birth, and a partner in one of the 

 most eminent mercantile houses in Manila (Jenny and Co.), who 

 from the moment the Austrian expeditionaries set foot in the 

 Philippines manifested to them the most delightful hospitality, 

 was on this occasion also our companion and cicerone. Two 

 other foreigners, an English artist and a merchant from Am- 



* The fabrics known by the name of Sinamay are on the other hand made of the 

 fibres of the Musa textilis. They are of less gossamer tissue, but almost transparent, 

 and far more durable than the fabrics made from the Pin a. 



