THE MALAY RACE. 



119 



that " the descendants of Spaniards, mixed or otherwise, bear great 

 hatred to the new-comers from Europe, to whom the government 

 offices are mostly given ; and who regard the former as inferiors, 

 although often more wealthy, more intelligent, and better informed 

 than themselves." The infusion of Spanish blood, is however tri- 

 fling beyond the precincts of the Capital ; and it appears, that out of 

 " a population of two and a quarter millions,* in the Marian Islands 

 and Spanish part of the Philippines, the Europeans number less than 

 three thousand." In the inland villages, I was struck with the ap- 

 parent absence of all foreign admixture; and the traveller often expe- 

 riences difficulty in finding persons who understand the Spanish lan- 

 guage. Wealth does not, at the Philippines, bring about luxury in 

 diet ; but I was assured, that " the native families whether rich or 

 poor, lived almost exclusively on rice." 



The native houses were all alike, small, built of bamboo, and set on 

 posts about six feet from the ground : and this mode of construction, 

 which in a rainy climate seems conducive to health, was found to be 

 general throughout the East Indies. In the shape, the Feejeean archi- 

 tecture was readily recognised ; but there was less regard to neatness, 

 and the workmanship wa^5 inferior, particularly about the roof and 

 thatching. The interior arrangements, however, were different; and 

 mats were not so generally in use, as with the Polynesians and 

 Feejeeans. 



The usual mode of carrying burdens, was the same as with the 

 Tropical Polynesians ; but for the first time in the course of the 

 Voyage, we observed articles occasionally borne on the head. Chil- 

 dren were sometimes supported astride on the hip, as commonly seen 

 among the Polynesians ; and the mode of caressing them was like- 

 wise by rubbing noses. It appeared further, that the practice of 

 shampooing was not unknown ; but neither here, nor in any other 

 part of the East Indies, did I see the slightest marks of tattooing. I 

 was surprised to learn, that hardly any genuine instances of running 

 a muck, occurred in this part of the Philippines. 



Among the strange sights to a visiter, may be enumerated the uni- 

 versal bloody appearance of the mouth and teeth, derived from the 

 use of betel ; and the great numbers of persons who earn a livelihood 

 by the traffic in that article. Also, the singular prevalence of the 

 amusement of coch-jighiing ; natives being seen everywhere in the 



* Sec an "extract from a work printed at Manila, lblb-19;" quoted in Moore's 

 I'ajjcrs on the Indian Archipelago. 



