MANILLA. 
311 
from the great variety of ages and sexes, give a very different and 
much more bustling appearance to the crowd of boats, than would be 
the case if they only contained those who are employed to navigate 
them. At times the paraos and bancas, of all sizes, together with the 
saraboas and pativas (duck establishments), become jumbled together, 
and create a confusion and noise such as is seldom met with in any 
other country. 
The pativas are under the care of the original inhabitants, to whom 
exclusively the superintendence of the ducklings seems to be committed. 
The pens are made of bamboo, and are not over a foot high. The 
birds were all in admirable order, and made no attempt to escape over 
the low barrier, although so slight that it was thought by some of our 
gentlemen it would not have sufficed to confine American ducks, al¬ 
though their wings might have been cut. The mode of giving them 
exercise was by causing them to run round in a ring. The good 
understanding existing between the keepers and their charge was 
striking, particularly when the former were engaged in cleansing the 
pens, and assisting the current to carry off the impurities. In the 
course of their sail, it was estimated that hundreds of thousands of 
ducks of all ages were seen. 
The women who were seen were usually engaged in fishing with a 
hook and line, and were generally standing in the water, or in canoes. 
The saraboas were here also in use. The run of the fish is generally 
concentrated by a chevaux-de-frise to guide them towards the nets and 
localities where the fishers place themselves. 
At five o’clock they reached the Laguna de Bay, where they took 
in a new crew, with mast and sail. This is called twenty-five miles 
from Manilla by the river; the distance in a bird’s flight is not over 
twelve. The whole distance is densely peopled, and well cultivated. 
The crops consist of indigo, rice, &c., with groves of the betel, palm, 
cocoa-nut, and quantities of fruit trees. 
The shores of the lake are shelving, and afford good situations for 
placing fish-weirs, which are here established on an extensive scale. 
These weirs are formed of slips of bamboo, and are to be seen run¬ 
ning in every direction to the distance of two or three miles. They 
may be said to invest entirely the shores of the lake for several miles 
from its outlet, and without a pilot it would be difficult to find the 
way through them. At night, when heron and tern were seen roost¬ 
ing on the top of each slat, these weirs presented rather a curious 
spectacle. 
The Laguna de Bay is said to be about ten leagues in length by 
three in width, and trends in a north-northwest and south-southeast 
