MANILLA. 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, youno- 

 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, 

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