THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 69 



town, is not bad. On account of the earthquakes 

 the walls are of an extraordinary thickness, and 

 secured by beams worked in. Some of these 

 churches possess pictures by good masters; several 

 altars are ornamented with wooden statues, whicii 

 are not without value as works of art, and are the 

 work of the Indians. But any thing done by 

 Indians is not valued here. We employed the few 

 cursory hours we spent in Manilla chiefly in the con- 

 vents, where we hoped to obtain information on im- 

 portant subjects. In the seminaries of the Chinese 

 and Japanese missions we did not find one monk 

 who was conversant in the sciences and literature 

 of these people. The strangers learn at the place 

 of their destination itself the necessary languages; 

 and what you ask for in the pretty large libraries 

 of Manilla is precisely what they want, namely, the 

 department of the philology and literature of the 

 inland languages, and of the nations whom they 

 desire to convert to their faith by the missionaries 

 sent thither. 



The inquisition appears to slumber now, but the 

 habit of caution still remains, and you may see 

 that people are uncomfortable, and dread it as a 

 spectre they do not see. 



The Spaniards living here display great luxury. 

 The equipages are numerous and elegant. The 

 profusion of their dishes, the number of meals they 

 give on one day, almost causes satiety/ The object 

 of every one is to amass riches, and a well-known 



F 3 



