THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



281 



the islands and the men intermarry with the native women ; in 

 their offspring the paternal type seems to absorb the maternal 

 and to be persistent for 

 generations. Through- 

 out the islands, or at 

 least in all the larger 

 towns, the bulk of the re- 

 tail trade, banking, and 

 money-lending is in 

 Chinese hands. They 

 are industrious, perse- 

 vering, economical, and 

 many of them possess 

 considerable wealth. 

 There are probably not 

 more than fifteen or 

 twenty thousand Span- 

 iards or people of pure 

 Spanish blood who are 

 permanent or temporary 

 residents, and the nunir 

 ber of other foreigners is 

 not large. The majority ■ By courtesy of Leslie , s Weekly 



of them are in Manila. 



The English have established a club at Sampalog, in the sub- 

 urbs, which has become the center of foreign social intercourse. 



.•HISTORY 



The Philippine islands were discovered by the Portuguese 

 navigator Fernando de Magelhses on the voyage from which only 

 one of his ships returned after circumnavigating the globe. He 

 first sighted them on St. Lazarus' da}', 1521, from which circum- 

 stance he named them Archipelago de San Lazaro. His first 

 landing was on the eastern coast of the island of Mindanao. He 

 afterwards went to Cebu, where he became friendly with the na- 

 tive ruler and accompanied him on a warlike expedition in 

 which he was killed. 



From this time until 1542 several expeditions were dispatched 

 from Spain to take possession of the islands, but from a variety 

 of causes all failed. In 1565 another expedition, commanded 

 by Miguel de Legaspi, was dispatched by Philip II to secure 

 the islands, which had been named the Philippines in his honor 



