TOPOGEAPHY OF THE PHILIPPINES. 263 



town is called. Extensive suburbs also stretch along both margins of the Pasig, 

 the whole place covering an area of about five square miles. 



The sanitary conditions are far from satisfactory. Thus the river, the water of 

 Avhich taken above the city is used for drinking purposes, is charged with all kinds 

 of refuse floating up and down with the tides. The numerous canals derived from 

 the Pasig, and ramifying through this " Tagal Venice," run dry for half the year, 

 leaving deposits of fetid mud to poison the atmosphere. The fortifications also, 

 now absolutely useless as defensive works, serve only to prevent the free circulation 

 of healthy sea-breezes. Often shaken by earthquakes, Manilla possesses no public 

 buildings of an imposing character, but here are centred the chief educational 

 establishments, the observatory, a school of design, a small museum, and a public 

 Kbrary. 



As a centre of trade Manilla occupies an admirable position at the outlet of an 

 inland . sea, and on a vast bay 120 miles in circumference, spacious enough to 

 accommodate all the navies of the world. The approach to this roadstead is partly 

 protected by the volcanic Corregidor island, while during the prevalence of the 

 south-west monsoon ships of three hundred tons are able to ride at anchor in the 

 Pasig estuax}^ under shelter of a long pier. The inlet at Can'fe, eight miles farther 

 south, also affords a refuge at this season to small men-of-war, and a new port in 

 course of construction off the old town will soon accommodate ships of the heaviest 

 tonnage in its extensive basins. To its other advantages Manilla adds its com- 

 manding position on the main routes of navigation between the Sunda Strait and 

 the Yangtze-Kiang estuary. Lapërouse asserted, perhaps with some exaggera- 

 tion, that the capital of the Philippines occupied the finest commercial site of any 

 city in the world. Until the year 1811 it served as the chief intermediate station 

 for the trade between Spain and her American colonies. 



Manilla is connected by a line of steam omnibuses with Malabon, which, like 

 the capital, lies on the shores of a gulf at the mouth of a river. Here is the 

 largest cigar manufactory in the Philippines, employing at times as many as ten 

 thousand hands. Both Malabon and Bulacan, which stands a little farther north 

 on a branch of the Pampanga, may be regarded as industrial dependencies of 

 Manilla. The same remark applies also to the fortified town of Cavité, which 

 lies to the south, and which, with its arsenal, docks, factories, and European build- 

 ings, has the most Spanish aspect of any town in the archipelago. The neighbour- 

 ing district of Indan is noted for the prime quality of its coffee. 



The two pueblos of Pa-vg and Pateros, on the Laguna, at the outlet of its emis- 

 sary should also be considered as outer markets of the capital. For over three 

 miles along the banks of the river nothing is to be seen except aquatic preserves 

 for the ducks bred to supply the wants of the city. They are fed on shell-fish 

 brought from the roadstead, and the eggs are artificially hatched at Pateros. The 

 lake, Laguna de Bay, takes its name from a village on the south side of this 

 inland sea ; on the same side but more to the north-west stands Santa- Cruz, capital 

 of the province. Here are also the much -frequented thermal waters of Banos, and 

 the industrial town of Lucban, which, with its springs, grottoes, and cascades, 



