292 



MANILLA. 



ascendency with so small a number, over such a numerous, intelli- 

 gent, and energetic race as they are represented to be. This is, how- 

 ever, more easily accounted for, from the Spaniards fostering and 

 keeping alive the jealousy and hatred that existed at the time of the 

 discovery between the different tribes. 



NATIVE OF LUZON. 



It seems almost incredible that Spain should have so long persisted 

 in the policy of allowing no more than one galleon to pass annually 

 between her colonies, and equally so that the nations of Europe should 

 have been so long deceived in regard to the riches and wealth that 

 Spain was monopolizing in the Philippines. The capture of Manilla, 

 in 1762, by the English, first gave a clear idea of the value of this 

 remote and little-known appendage of the empire. 



The Philippines, considered in their capacity for commerce, are 

 certainly among the most favoured portions of the globe, and there is 

 but one circumstance that tends in the least degree to lessen their 

 apparent advantage; this is the prevalence of typhoons in the China 

 seas, which are occasionally felt with force to the north of latitude 

 10° N. South of that parallel, they have never been known to prevail, 

 and seldom so far ; but from their unfailing occurrence yearly in some 

 part of the China seas, they are looked for with more or less dread, 

 and cause each season a temporary interruption in all the trade that 

 passes along the coast of these islands. 



The army is now composed entirely of native troops, who number 

 about six thousand men, and the regiments are never suffered to serve 



