66 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
government to Bacolor in the province of Pampanga, to 
the north of Manila Bay. 
The old town, triangular in shape, is surrounded with 
walls of solid masonry, now cracked and shattered by 
innumerable earthquakes. To the north and south-west 
it is protected by the river and the sea respectively. The 
land-face has strong bastions and a double fosse, but the 
fortifications would be of little use against modern 
artillery, and only serve to render unhealthy the town 
which they enclose. Within, the streets are gloomy and 
narrow, and show frequent evidences of the earthquakes. 
Here are the chief official buildings, the cathedral, the 
convents, and the barracks, and outside the walls cn the 
river-face are the wharves and a monument to Magellan. 
Commercial Manila lies across the river, upon its right 
bank, in the quarters of Tondo and Binondo, where the 
Chinese stalls and stores gradually give place to busy 
thoroughfares lined with European shops. Canals which 
become partly dry at low water intersect the streets, and 
leave much to be desired from a sanitary point of view. 
But otherwise this part of the city is well kept, and the 
main street—the Escolta—where are situated the chief 
cafes and shops, is well paved and lighted. The officials 
and merchants reside chiefly in the suburbs of San Miguel 
and San Sebastian, while Quiapo and Ermita are the most 
important native quarters. Three or four miles to the 
north is Malabon, with a gigantic cigar factory, which 
employs sometimes as many as 10,000 hands. 
Manila owns nothing of importance in the way of 
buildings. The cathedral built in 1654 was destroyed 
in the frightful earthquake of the 3rd June, 1863, 1 but 
1 The following account of this catastrophe is given by the German 
traveller Jagor :— 
“On the 3rd of June 1863, at thirty-one minutes past seven in the even- 
