THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
119 
Late on the 27th the island of Negros was observed towards the north-east, and on the 
following day its lofty volcano, Mount Malaspina, over 8000 feet high, was plainly visible 
from our deck. Soon after, the hills of Panay Island rose above the horizon ; and then, 
passing up between the level shores of the latter and the rocky bluffs of Guimaras Island, we 
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FORT OF ILO-ILO, PANAY ISLAND. 
anchored in the afternoon of the 28th close to the dilapidated fort of Ilo-Ilo. The Spanish flag 
waving from the fort showed, to our surprise, a large hole in its centre. We learned that 
when the throne became vacant through the abdication of King Amadeo, the scutcheon of 
the alien house was simply cut out, and the place reserved for the insertion of that of the 
next dynasty to follow, whatever it might be—an economical plan, to be recommended to 
fickle nations who are not content without a change in the form of government once or twice 
in every generation. 
The town of Ilo-Ilo, with the closely adjoining towns of Molo and Xaro, are situated 
upon the swampy margin of a fertile plain which stretches far inland to the foot of the hills. 
The cultivation of sugar, rice, and tobacco, also the manufacture of the famous tissue called 
“ pina,” are carried on here on a large scale ; and the considerable export trade of the place 
has attracted a colony of Europeans—English, Americans, Germans, and Swiss, who contrive 
to exist in this fever-stricken spot—besides the ubiquitous Chinaman, who abounds in every 
town in the Philippines. 
After an excursion to the opposite island of Guimaras, which the heat of the day 
rendered very fatiguing, followed by a ball given in our honour at Xaro, attended by His 
Excellency the Governor, the Alcalde, the officers of the garrison, and all the notabilities of 
the three cities, when we were initiated into the mysteries of the “ danza,” a kind of very 
slow polka suitable to a hot climate, we commenced on the 31st our cruise through the 
Philippine Inland Sea. The numerous islands, large and small, which stud this sea, and fill 
up the space between Luzon in the north and Mindanao in the south, are comprised under 
the name of the “ Bisayas.” It would be difficult to exaggerate the charm of navigating 
between these islands, as, during the next three days, they lay around us under a warm blue 
sky, so varied are they in shape, so rich in the productions of nature, abounding in sites 
which a more enterprising race would have long ago covered with prosperous towns and 
villages. Let me recommend to the lover of nature, whether he be a man of science, or an 
artist, or simply in search of change and adventure, a cruise among the Philippine Islands. 
In the afternoon of the 3rd November, when in the Strait of S. Bernardino, and looking 
across the Bay of Balangas, we had a view of the district of Lake Taal, from the centre of 
which rises the volcano whose eruptions and attendant earthquakes have been the cause of so 
many disastrous calamities to the city of Manilla. The high peaks of Mindoro Island, to the 
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