On approaching Manilla from the bay in one of the bancas--or canoes
having a cover as a protection against the sun--which generally go off
to all ships after their anchor has been let go, and the port-captain's
boat has boarded the new arrival, the spires, towers of churches,
and lofty red-tiled roofs of houses or convents are all that can be
seen over the walls, so that the first impressions of a stranger are
not in general very vivid or interesting.
On reaching the múrallon, your banca enters the waters of the Pasig
river, prolonged by two piers into the bay, on the extreme point
of one of which is situated a small fort garrisoned by a company
of soldiers, and on the other the lighthouse, a most insignificant
and nearly useless building. Passing these, the boatmen pull up the
river to the garrita, a small round house, where the banca is viséd
by the people of the gun-boats, at all times stationed there for
that purpose, and should there be any packages or baggage in it,
the port-captain's deputy, or aide-de-camp, puts a guard on board,
who conducts you to the custom-house for the purpose of having it
inspected there; but the examination is generally not a very minute
one, and personal effects are for the most part passed merely by
opening the boxes and showing the tops of their contents, although
you may be asked whether it contains either pocket-pistols or a bible,
both of which are prohibited and seizable.
The city of Manilla, ever since its foundation, which took place at
a very early period of the Spanish power in Luzon, from the natural
advantages combined in its situation--so judiciously chosen by
them--continued to be the capital of the Philippines, whose history
ever since may be said to have centered in the transactions which at
various times have taken place under the shadow of its walls.
It is built at the mouth of the river Pasig, on the low-lying and
sandy point formed by its junctions with the waters of the bay,
between which and the ditch that surrounds the walls on the seaward
side, a level sward stretches along the beach.
An Englishman, on arriving, perceives a marked difference between
the place and people and any of his country's Indian possessions; the
air he breathes, and the habits he gradually falls into from seeing
them the customary ones of other people, are not the same as those
of his countrymen in British India. Should he be fortunate enough to
have arrived towards the end of the year, in addition to the greater
coolness of the weather then usually prevalent, and so delightful in
the tropics, he will most probably not want opportunities for enjoying
himself; as, after suffering a penitential confinement to the house
during the long rainy season, for some time before Christmas, the
cool nights and other circumstances induce the residents to break out
into greater gaiety than is prevalent at other seasons of the year;
and amusement, about that time, generally appears to be the order of
the day.
The city is not unworthy of a curiosity seeker's visit. The town,
within the fortifications, although not of great size, is for the
most part well planned, the streets being straight, regular, and some
of them kept clean and in good order, although many of the smaller
ones are allowed to fall into great disrepair. They are too narrow,
moreover, for the heat of the climate, as the confined air and stench
frequently existing in them, are principally generated by their
closeness, and more especially during the cool of the evening and
early morning, are far from conducing to the health of the population.
The latitude of the citadel, or Fuerza de Santiago, is 14° 36' N.,
longitude 127° 15' E. of Cadiz, or in latitude 14° 36' 8'' N., and
longitude 120° 53 1/2' E. of Greenwich.
The fortifications surrounding the town are regular, and apparently
strong, defences; but although the walls and ditch look formidable
enough in themselves, the want of sufficient good artillery to
protect them would probably be felt in the event of an assault,
and might render the place not a very difficult prize to a large
attacking force. But no invader need now-a-days expect to meet with
such very easy success as attended our expedition last century,
at a time when weak and priestly notions not only ruled the church,
but governed the people and the camp.
Very different feelings and modes of action are now prevalent among
the white population, from those then in operation among them.
For some years past the influx of fresh blood from Europe has been
very much greater than in former times, the consequence of which
is that a change is creeping over the place, from the energy and
enterprize of the new comers.
There is little doubt but that all this is for the best, and in the
course of a few years more, I hope to hear that the Government,
increasing in liberality and wisdom, will allow the natural
capabilities of the Philippines to be developed, and their importance
appreciated, by permitting foreigners to hold land and become planters,
as without their capital and knowledge it will probably be a long
time before the Spaniards of themselves attain these ends in the like
perfection; such measures would ensure their doing so at once.
By far the most populous and important part of the town of Manilla
is situated without the walls, and on the other side of the river
from the fortified city, the intermediate communication being by a
handsome bridge, one of the eight arches of which, having given way
to the shock of an earthquake, has not been rebuilt, but is replaced
by wood. It has been proposed to construct a drawbridge at this point,
so as to allow the colonial shipping to proceed up the river above the
bridge, which they cannot now do. And should the project be carried
into effect, it is likely that the small sized coasting vessels,
when nothing better offers for them to do, will go on to the Laguna,
and supersede the clumsy _cascos_ which now solely navigate the lake
and bring down the produce of the fruitful country which surrounds it,
to dispose of in the market of Manilla.
Without the walls nearly all the trade is carried on, the Escolta
and Rosario, on that side of the river, being the principal streets,
built however without any regard to regularity, so that they are
not handsome, but in them nearly all the best Chinamen's shops are
situated. These are in general very small confined places, though
crammed with manufactures, the produce of Manchester, Glasgow,
Birmingham, and of many other European and Chinese manufacturing
marts. Some of the shops may also be seen stuffed to the door with the
valuable Piña cloth, husè, and other productions of the native looms.
The great object of the Chinese shopmen appears to be, to show the
most varied, and frequently miscellaneous, collection of goods in the
smallest possible space; as, their shops being for the most part not
more than ten feet broad towards the street, leaves but little space
besides the doorway to display the attractions of their wares, and
every inch has to be made the most of by them. These China shopkeepers
have nearly driven all competition, except with each other out of the
market,--very few Mestizos or Spaniards being able to live on the
small profits which the competition among themselves has reduced
them to. A China shopkeeper generally makes his shop his home,
all of them sleeping in those confined dens at night, from which,
on opening their doors about five in the morning, as they usually do,
a most noisome and pestiferous smell issues and is diffused through
the streets. The Mestizos cannot do this, but must have a house to
live in out of the profits of the shop; and the consequence has been,
that when their shopkeeping profits could no longer do that, they have
nearly all betaken themselves to other more suitable occupations, from
which the energies of their Chinese rivals are less likely to drive
them. The number of Chinamen in Manilla and throughout the islands
is very great, and nearly the whole provincial trade in manufactured
goods is in their hands. Numerous traders of that nation have shops
opened throughout the islands, their business being carried on by
one of their own countrymen, generally the principal person of the
concern, who remains resident at Manilla, while his various agents
in the country keep him advised of their wants, to meet which he
makes large purchases from the merchants, and forwards the same to
his country friends. Besides having many shops in the provinces,
each of these head men is generally in the habit of having a number
of shops in Manilla, sometimes upwards of a dozen being frequently all
contiguous to one another, so that any one going into one of his shops
and asking for something the price of which appears too dear, refuses
it and goes to the next shop, which probably belongs to the same man,
and is likely to buy it, as he is apt to think--because they all ask
the same price--that it cannot be got cheaper elsewhere, so gives
the amount demanded for it, although it is probably very much too dear.
There is another advantage which the Chinese have found from the
system they pursue,--that large purchasers of goods from the merchants
who import them for sale are frequently able to buy them for less
money than those smaller traders who are not in the habit of making
purchases to the same amount from the importers,--as the credit of
a small dealer is not sufficiently good to induce a merchant to sell
them more than he imagines he is likely to be paid for.
In these Chinese shops, the owner usually engages all the activity
of his countrymen employed by him in them, by giving each of them a
share in the profits of the concern, or, in fact, by making them all
small partners in the business, of which he of course takes care to
retain the lion's share, so that while doing good for him by managing
it well, they are also benefiting themselves. To such an extent is
this principle carried, that it is usual to give even their coolies
a share in the profits of the business in lieu of fixed wages, and
the plan appears to suit their temper well; for although they are
in general most complete eye-servants when working for a fixed wage,
they are found to be most industrious and useful ones when interested
even for the smallest share.
The amount of business done by some of these Chinamen with the
principal importers of manufactured goods, who are the British
merchants, is very considerable, some of them frequently making monthly
purchases to the extent of ten or fifteen thousand dollars from one
person, nearly all of the goods being sold to them on credits of
three, four, or six months after the date of purchase and delivery
of the merchandise. Occasionally, however, some of them break down,
and those importers who have been trusting them for large amounts,
of course burn their fingers; Chinamen, as a general rule, being
honest and trustworthy only so long as it appears to be their own
interest to remain so. Most of them at Manilla are people who have
made everything for themselves, from nothing except their hands to
begin with, as no rich Chinamen, such as are met with in their native
country, and occasionally in Java and Singapore, are found at Manilla;
for nearly all those who come there have originally arrived as coolies,
earning their bread by manual labour, but very few of them indeed
having inherited anything from their fathers, except the arts of
reading and writing, which nearly the whole of them, however poor,
understand and are able to perform. Whenever they make money, they
invariably return to China, the Government holding out no inducements
for them to remain in the Philippines, as they do elsewhere in the
Archipelago, where greater freedom and protection are allowed them.