INHABITANTS OF THE PHILIPPINES. 261 



Indies have learnt to read and write Spanislij and even when employing their native 

 idioms they substitute the Roman for the somewhat rude and difficult characters 

 of Hindu origin, which were in use before the arrival of the Spaniards. The 

 civilised natives have also adopted the European costume, though in a modified 

 form, wearing the shirt as a blouse, and the Chinese form of hat. 



Speaking generally, the Indies of the Philippines may be regarded as amongst 

 the happiest populations in the world. They lead a pleasant, easy life in the midst 

 of their fragrant gardens, under the shade of fruit-laden palms, and on the banks 

 of babbling brooks. In many places they sow their rice in cadence, to the sound 

 of violin or clarionette. But they yield too readily to indolent habits, and omit 

 no opportunity of indulging in the national vice of gambling. Cock-fighting 

 is a favourite sport on feast days, and the Roman Catholic religion itself is for 

 them little more than a succession of festive amusements. Troubling themselves 

 little with questions of dogma, they display extraordinary zeal in the celebration of 

 the pompous rites of the Roman liturgy, and a great part of their existence is 

 thus passed in the observance of practices not greatly differing from those of their 

 primitive cult. A domestic altar, with the images of the Madonna and saints, suc- 

 cessors of the ancient anitos, occupies the place of honour in every household, and 

 the humblest hamlet has its special feast, during which these sacred images, draped 

 in embroidered silks and crowned with chaplets of flowers, are borne at the head 

 of brilliant processions. The churches, built in the Spanish " Jesuit " style, are 

 similarly decorated with rich hangings, bannerols and floral festoons, while every 

 village has its band of musicians, who accompany the religious ceremonies with a 

 flourish of trombones and cymbals. Actors also are frequently engaged to perform 

 the " mysteries," and play comedies in which the sacred and profane are strangely 

 intermingled, the feast days kept in honour of the saints usually winding up with 

 a grand display of fireworks. 



The curé, especially if a Spaniard by birth, is the most influential person in the 

 district, and to him the "Capitan" applies for advice on all serious occasions. 

 The church bells announce the hour of his siesta, and on him far more than on 

 troops and arms the government depends for the absolute submission of the con- 

 verted natives. But the increasing relations with the outer world, the spread of 

 education, the diffusion of profane literature daily penetrating more and more 

 despite the censure of the press, all tend to bring about a new order of things, 

 under which the Indies, while becoming more assimilated to their European 

 master, must gain in independence and moral freedom. Hence the local clergy 

 show themselves little favourable to changes threatening to diminish their influence 

 over their congregations. They even see with reluctance the slow spread of the 

 Spanish language amongst the natives. But this result is inevitable since the 

 official decree that no Indio can henceforth exercise any remunerative or public 

 function, even in the villages, unless he can read and write Spanish. 



Topography of the Philippines. 

 Manilla, capital of the Philippines, lies on a spacious oval-shaped bay at the 



