274 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



during the rainy season, when the stormy weather which accom- 

 panies the southwest monsoon renders coastwise navigation dan- 

 gerous to coasting vessels, and land carriage is impeded by bad 

 roads and the absence of bridges, necessitating the floating of 

 goods across the streams on rafts, while facilities for personal 

 travel have been confined to horseback or to uncomfortable two- 

 wheeled vehicles called carromatas, over roads execrable in the dry 

 season, but which in the wet season become seas of mud, only to 

 be traversed by a rude sledge drawn by buffaloes — in fact, sleigh- 

 ing on the mud in place of the snow of northern climes. 



But in this direction also there is a hopeful sign of progress, 

 as the first railroad has been built and is in operation from Ma- 

 nila to Dagupin, 123 miles in length, connecting the capital with 

 the rice-growing districts of Pangasinati. It is a single-track 

 road, well and substantially built, and its earnings have been 

 sufficiently remunerative to encourage an extension of railroad 

 facilities whenever the islands may enjoy the blessings of peace 

 and liberal government. 



The traveler in the interior of Luzon will find no hotels nor 

 inns for his accommodation, but every village has a public build- 

 ing — often, indeed, a very rude structure and sometimes a mere 

 hut — where he is entitled to shelter and where he can obtain 

 food, frequently of poor character, at a fixed tariff rate. Wher- 

 ever a priest or a convent is located he is sure of more commo- 

 dious quarters and better fare. 



HARBORS 



The immense coast line of the islands contains a great num- 

 ber of good harbors, but in consequence of the exclusive policy 

 of the Spanish government in closing them to foreign commerce 

 very little is known of them except to coastwise navigators. The 

 foreign trade is confined chiefly to Manila, Iloilo, Cebu, and Sual. 

 Zamboanga, on the island of Mindanao, is also an open port, 

 but the amount of business transacted there is insignificant. 



The bay of Manila, one of the finest in the world, is about 120 

 miles in circumference, with deep water and very few dangers to 

 navigation. The entrance is divided into two channels by the 

 islands Corregidor and Caballos, the northern about two miles 

 in width and the southern five miles. The anchorage for large 

 vessels is good within a short distance from the mouth of the 

 river Pasig, on which the city of Manila is situated and which 

 enters the bay on its eastern side, where it is prolonged into the 



