MANILLA. 325 



acquainted with all. I was much struck with the extent of the build- 

 ing, which was four stories high, with spacious corridors and galleries, 

 the walls of which were furnished with pictures representing the 

 martyrdom of the Dominican friars in Japan. These were about 

 seventy in number, in the Chinese style of art, and evidently painted 

 by some one of that nation, calling himself an artist. From appear- 

 ances, however, I should think they were composed by the priests, 

 who have not a little taxed their invention to find out the different 

 modes in which a man can be put to death. Many evidently, if 

 not all, had been invented for the pictures. So perplexed had they 

 apparently been, that in one of the last it was observed that the 

 executioner held his victim at arms' length by the heels, and was 

 about to let him drop headforemost into a well. From the galleries 

 we passed into the library, and thence into many of the rooms, and 

 finally we mounted to the top of the monastery, which affords a 

 beautiful view of the bay, city, and suburbs. There I was presented 

 to three of the friars, who were pleasant and jolly-looking men. Upon 

 the roof was a kind of observatory, or look-out, simply furnished with 

 billiard-tables and shuffleboards, while the implements for various 

 other games lay about on small tables, with telescopes on stands, and 

 comfortable arm-chairs. It was a place where the friars put aside their 

 religious and austere character or appearance, and sought amusement. 

 It was a delightful spot, so far as coolness and the freshness of the sea 

 air were concerned, and its aspect gave me an insight behind the cur- 

 tain of these establishments that very soon disclosed many things I was 

 ignorant of before. All the friars were of a rotund form, and many 

 of them bore the marks of good living in their full, red, and bloated 

 faces. It seems to be generally understood at Manilla, that they live 

 upon the fat of the land. We visited several of the rooms, and were 

 warmly greeted by the padres, one of whom presented me with a 

 meteorological table for the previous year. 



The revenues of all these religious establishments are considerable; 

 the one I visited belonged to the Dominicans, and was very rich. 

 Their revenues are principally derived from lands owned by them, 

 and the tithes from the different districts which they have under their 

 charge, to which are added many alms and gifts. On inquiry, I 

 found their general character was by no means thought well of, and 

 they had of late years lost much of the influence that they possessed 

 before the revolution in the mother country. 



Among the inhabitants we saw here, was a native boy of the Iro- 

 vol. v. 82 



