25S FROM GUAHON TO ST. HELENA. 



going to the city in the pmigo with the two 

 Spanish officers, with the intention of paying my 

 respects to the Governor, and asking his permis- 

 sion to sail to Cavite to have the Rurick repaired 

 there. M. Von Chamisso, who is master of the 

 Spanish langnage, accompanied me, and at four 

 o'clock we reached tlie road, which is very secure 

 in this season of the year, and where we saw eight 

 merchantmen, under the American and EngHsh 

 flags, lying at anchor. 



Manilla is situated on a plain, and does not afford, 

 from the sea-side, a very pleasing prospect, as you 

 see only one stone-wall planted with cannon, above 

 which appear the roofs of the houses, and some 

 church-steeples. To be able to land, you must row 

 into the river, which is likewise deep enough for 

 large ships, and at the mouth of which is a shoal, 

 above m Inch there are only fourteen feet water at 

 the new and full moon. The river divides into 

 several branches, and two of them, the banks of 

 which are strewn with villages, lead to the cele- 

 brated lake of Bahia, which lies twenty miles far- 

 ther up the country. The shoal had a very 

 animated appearance ; a number of fishing- boats, 

 manned with Chinese and Malays, carried on their 

 profession here ; some of the boats attracted our 

 attention more particularly, as they threw a large 

 net into the water by a simple machine managed 

 by two men, which was drawn out in a minute 

 filled with small fish. Wlien we had penetrated into 



