290 
MANILLA. 
cleaning a picul (one hundred and forty pounds) is from five to seven 
dollars. There have, as far as I have understood, been no endeavours 
to introduce any cotton-gins from our country. 
It will be merely necessary to give the prices at which labourers 
are paid, to show how low the compensation is, in comparison with 
those in our own country. In the vicinity of Manilla, twelve and a 
half cents per day is the usual wages; this in the provinces falls to 
six and nine cents. A man with two buffaloes is paid about thirty 
cents. The amount of labour performed by the latter in a day would 
be the ploughing of a soane, about two-tenths of an acre. The most 
profitable way of employing labourers is by the task, when, it is said, 
the natives work well, and are industrious. 
The manner in which the sugar and other produce is brought to 
market at Manilla is peculiar, and deserves to be mentioned. In some 
of the villages, the chief men unite to build a vessel, generally a 
pirogue, in which they embark their produce, under the conduct of a 
few persons, who go to navigate it, and dispose of the cargo. In due 
time they make their voyage, and when the accounts are settled, the 
returns are distributed to each according to his share. Festivities are 
then held, the saints thanked for their kindness, and blessings invoked for 
another year. After this is over, the vessel is taken carefully to pieces, 
and distributed among the owners, to be preserved for the next season. 
The profits in the crops, according to estimates, vary from sixty to 
one hundred per cent.; but it was thought, as a general average, that 
this was, notwithstanding the great productiveness of the soil, far be¬ 
yond the usual profits accruing from agricultural operations. In some 
provinces this estimate would hold good, and probably be exceeded. 
Indigo would probably be a lucrative crop, for that raised here is 
said to be of a quality equal to the best, and the crop is not subject to 
so many uncertainties as in India: the capital and attention required 
in vats, &c., prevent it from being raised in any quantities. Among 
the productions, the bamboo and rattan ought to claim a particular 
notice from their great utility: they enter into almost every thing. 
Of the former their houses are built, including frames, floors, sides, 
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. 
