Ojypressively unjust Operation of the Laiv of Lunacy. 349 



regular medical attendance. Without assistance, or any one 

 responsible for their proper care, these miserable beings, left in 

 an indescribably desolate and neglected condition, cower down 

 upon the bare stone floor in the damp, filthy rooms, staring 

 vacantly before them, or slink about among the cool corri- 

 dors, murmuring unintelligibly to themselves. The padre, 

 habituated to such a state of matters, seems never to give it a 

 moment's thought, but rather to make it his amusement to 

 conduct strangers through the dismal, horrible wards, where at 

 each step one encounters some fresh form of misery. We felt 

 most pity at the sight of a female, whose features and whole 

 appearance spoke of a happier lot in by-gone days. It seem- 

 ed a mystery crying aloud for reparation, that this unhappy 

 being, an orphan, worthy of all compassion, should for a 

 slight attack of melancholy be liable to be sent to the asylum 

 for the insane by her unscrupulous relations, that they might 

 with the greater security possess themselves of her property. 

 So deep and so permanent was the impression made by this 

 melancholy spectacle, that even now, after the lapse of years 

 of varied experience, since our visit to the lunatic asylum of 

 Manila, the ill-fated being, with her wan yet striking fea- 

 tures, her large, melancholy black eyes, and her wavy, 

 shining black hair, her dress neglected and half torn into 

 pieces, stands out life-like before us, as an embodiment of 

 misery. 



Early on the day on which we bade adieu to Manila we 

 found an opportunity of seeing a live boa- constrictor, said 



