310 MANILLA. 



and roof; fences are made of the same material, as well as every 

 article of general household use, including baskets for oil and water. 

 The rattan is a general substitute for ropes of all descriptions, and 

 the two combined are used in constructing rafts for crossing ferries. 



I have thus given a general outline of the capabilities of this 

 country for agricultural operations, in some of the most important 

 articles of commerce; by which it will be seen that the Philippine 

 Islands are one of the most favoured parts of the globe. 



The crops frequently suffer from the attacks of the locusts, which 

 sweep all before them. Fortunately for the poorer classes, their 

 attacks take place after the rice has been harvested ; but the cane is 

 sometimes entirely cut off. The authorities of Manilla, in the vain 

 hope of stopping their devastations, employ persons to gather them 

 and throw them into the sea. I understood on one occasion they had 

 spent eighty thousand dollars in this way, but all to little purpose. 

 It is said that the crops rarely suffer from droughts, but on the con- 

 trary the rains are thought to fall too often, and to flood the rice 

 fields; these, however, yield a novel crop, and are very advantageous 

 to the poor, viz. : a great quantity of fish, which are called dalag, and 

 are a species of Blunnius ; they are so plentiful that they are 

 caught with baskets : these fish weigh from a half to two pounds, 

 and some are said to be eighteen inches long : but this is not all ; 

 they are said, after a deep inundation, to be found even in the vaults 

 of churches. 



The Philippines are divided into thirty-one provinces, sixteen of 

 which are on the island of Luzon, and the remainder comprise the 

 other islands of the group and the Ladrones. 



The population of the whole group is above three millions, includ- 

 ing all tribes of natives, mestizoes, and whites. The latter-named 

 class are but few in number, not exceeding three thousand. The 

 mestizoes were supposed to be about fifteen or twenty thousand : 

 they are distinguished as Spanish and Indian mestizoes. The Chi- 

 nese have of late years increased to a large number, and it is said 

 that there are forty thousand of them in and around Manilla alone. 

 One-half of the whole population belongs to Luzon. The island next 

 to it in the number of inhabitants is Panay, which contains about 

 three hundred and thirty thousand. Then come Zebu, Mindanao, 

 Leyte, Samar, and Negros, varying from the above numbers down 

 to fifty thousand. The population is increasing, and it is thought 

 that it doubles itself in seventy years. This rate of increase appears 



