324 



Excursion to the mountains. 



MANILLA. 



Excursion to the mountains. 



putes of minor importance, have the command of 

 the troops in time of v war, and are collectors of the 

 royal revenues, for the security of which they give 

 bonds, which must be approved of by the comp- 

 troller-general of the treasury. The province of 

 Cavite is alone exempt from this rule, and the 

 collection of tribute is there confided to a police 

 magistrate. 



Each province is again subdivided into pueblos, 

 | containing a greater or less number of inhabitants, 

 each of which has again its ruler, called a gober- 

 nadorcillo, who has in like manner other officers 

 under him to act as police magistrates. The num- 

 ber of the latter are very great, each of them 

 having his appropriate duties. These consist in 

 the supervision of the grain fields, cocoa-nut groves, 

 betel-nut plantations, and in the preservation of 

 the general order and peace of the town. So 

 I numerous are these petty officers, that there is 

 scarcely a family of any consequence, that has not 

 a member who holds some kind of office under 

 government. This policy, in case of disturbances, 

 at once unites a large and influential body on the 

 side of the government, that is maintained at little 

 expense. The gobernadorcillo exercises the muni- 

 cipal authority, and is especially charged to aid 

 the parish priest in every thing appertaining to 

 religious observances, &c. 



As soon as we could procure the necessary pass- 

 ports, which were obligingly furnished by the 

 governor to " Don Russel Sturges y quatro Anglo 

 Americanos," our party left Manilla for a short 

 jaunt to the mountains. It was considered as a 

 mark of great favour on the part of his excellency 

 to grant this indulgence, particularly as he had a 

 few months prior denied it to a party of French 

 officers. I was told that he preferred to make it 

 a domestic concern, by issuing the passport in the 

 name of a resident, in order that compliance in this 

 case might not give umbrage to the French. It 

 was generally believed that the cause of the refusal 

 in the former instance was the imprudent manner 

 in which the French officers went about taking 

 plans and sketches, at the corners of streets, &c., 

 which in the minds of an unenlightened and 

 ignorant colonial government, of course excited 

 suspicion. Nothing can be so ridiculous as this 

 system of passports ; for if one was so disposed, a 

 plan, and the most minute information of every 

 thing that concerns the defences of places, can 

 always be obtained at little cost now-a-days ; for 

 such is the skill of engineers, that a plan is easily 

 made of places, merely by a sight of them. We 

 were not, however, disposed to question the pro- 

 priety of the governor's conduct in the former 

 case, and I felt abundantly obliged to him for a 

 permission that would add to our stock of informa- 

 tion. 



It was deemed at first impossible for the party 

 to divide, as they had but one passport, and some 

 difficulties were anticipated from the number being 

 double that stated in the passport. The party con- 

 sisted of Messrs. Sturges, Pickering, Eld, Rich, 

 Dana, and Brackenridge. Mr. Sturges, however, 

 saw no difficulty in dividing the party after they 

 had passed beyond the precincts of the city, taking 

 the precaution, at the same time, not to appear 

 together beyond the number designated on the 

 paper. 



On the 14th, they left Manilla, and proceeded in 



carriages to Santa Anna, on the Pasig, in order to 

 avoid the delay that would ensue if they followed 

 the windings of the river in a banca, and against 

 the current. 



At Santa Anna they found their bancas waiting 

 for them, and embarked. Here the scene was 

 rendered animated by numerous boats of all de- 

 scriptions, from the parao to the small canoe of a 

 single log. 



There is a large population that live wholly on 

 the water : for the padrones of the paraos have 

 usually their families with them, which from the 

 great variety of ages and sexes, give a very differ- 

 ent and much more bustling appearance to the 

 crowd of boats, than would be the case if they only 

 contained those who are employed to navigate 

 them. At times the paraos and bancas, of all 

 sizes, together with the saraboas and pativas (duck 

 establishments), become jumbled together, and 

 create a confusion and noise such as is seldom met 

 with in any other country. 



The pativas are under the care of the original 

 inhabitants, to whom exclusively the superintend- 

 ence of the ducklings seems to be committed. The 

 pens are made of bamboo, and are not over a foot 

 high. The birds were all in admirable order, and 

 made no attempt to escape over the low barrier, 

 although so slight that it was thought by some of 

 our gentlemen it would not have sufficed to confine 

 American ducks, although their wings might have 

 been cut. The mode of giving them exercise was 

 by causing them to run round in a ring. The good 

 understanding existing between the keepers and 

 their charge was striking, particularly when the 

 former were engaged in cleansing the pens, and 

 assisting the current to carry off the impurities. 

 In the course of their sail, it was estimated that 

 hundreds of thousands of ducks of all ages were 

 seen. 



The women who were seen were usually engaged 

 in fishing with a hook and line, and were generally 

 standing in the water, or in canoes. The saraboas 

 were here also in use. The run of the fish is 

 generally concentrated by a chevaux-de-frise to 

 guide them towards the nets and localities where 

 the fishers place themselves. 



At five o'clock they reached the Laguna de Bay, 

 where they took in a new crew, with mast and 

 sail. This is called twenty-five miles from Manilla 

 by the river; the distance in a bird's flight is not 

 over twelve. The whole distance is densely peopled, 

 and well cultivated. The crops consist of indigo, i 

 rice, &c., with groves of the betel, palm, cocoa-nut, 

 and quantities of fruit trees. 



The shores of the lake are shelving, and afford 

 good situations for placing fish-weirs, which are 

 here established on an extensive scale. These 

 weirs are formed of slips of bamboo, and are to 

 be seen running in every direction to the distance 

 of two or three miles. They may be said to invest 

 entirely the shores of the lake for several miles 

 from its outlet, and without a pilot it would be 

 difficult to find the way through them. At night, 

 when heron and tern were seen roosting on the 

 top of each slat, these weirs presented rather a 

 curious spectacle. 



The Laguna de Bay is said to be about ten 

 leagues in length by three in width, and trends in 

 a north-north-west and south-south-east direc- 

 tion. 



