M ANILL A. 
301 
nether limbs; and a jacket fitting close to the body is worn, without a 
shirt. In some, this jacket is ornamented with work around the neck ; 
it has no collar, and in many cases no sleeves, and over this a richly 
embroidered cape. The feet are covered with slippers, with wooden 
soles, which are kept on by the little toe, only four toes entering the 
slipper, and the little one being on the outside. The effect of both 
costumes is picturesque. 
The market is a never-failing place of amusement to a foreigner, for 
there a crowd of the common people is always to be seen, and their 
mode of conducting business may be observed. The canals here afford 
great facilities for bringing vegetables and produce to market in a fresh 
state. The vegetables are chiefly brought from the shores of the Laguna 
de Bay, through the river Pasig. The meat appeared inferior, and as 
in all Spanish places the art of butchering is not understood. The 
poultry, however, surpasses that of any other place I have seen, parti¬ 
cularly in ducks, the breeding of which is pursued to a great extent. 
Establishments for breeding these birds are here carried on in a 
systematic manner, and are a great curiosity. They consist of many 
small enclosures, each about twenty feet by forty or fifty, made of 
bamboo, which are placed on the bank of the river, and partly covered 
with water. In one corner of the enclosure is a small house, where the 
eggs are hatched by artificial heat, produced by rice-chaff in a state of 
fermentation. It is not uncommon to see six or eight hundred duck¬ 
lings all of the same age. There are several hundreds of these enclo¬ 
sures, and the number of ducks of all ages may be computed at 
millions. The manner in which they are schooled to take exercise, and 
to go in and out of the water, and to return to their house, almost 
exceeds belief. The keepers or tenders are of the Tagala tribe, who 
live near the enclosures, and have them at all times under their eye. 
The old birds are not suffered to approach the young, and all of one 
age are kept together. They are fed upon rice and a small species of 
shell-fish that is found in the river and is peculiar to it. From the 
extent of these establishments we inferred that ducks were the favourite 
article of food at Manilla, and the consumption of them must be 
immense. The markets are well supplied with chickens, pigeons, young 
partridges, which are brought in alive, and turkeys. Among strange 
articles that we saw for sale, were cakes of coagulated blood. The 
markets are well stocked with a variety of fish, taken both in the 
Laguna and bay of Manilla, affording a supply of both the fresh and 
salt-water species, and many smaller kinds that are dried and smoked. 
Vegetables are in great plenty, and consist of pumpkins, lettuce, onions 
2 A 
