Besides those already mentioned, there are several other branches of
manufacture successfully pursued in different places throughout the
country, although none of them are very extensive.
Among others, that of hat-making may be mentioned. It is practised
principally at a village called Balignat, in the province of Bulacan;
and is also carried on to a smaller extent in Pangasinan, Camarines,
and Yloylo.
The hats are made from the cane, the fibres of which, employed in
their construction, very much resemble the materials of those made at
Leghorn, of straw. They are made both black and white, and are used
almost universally by the native population, at times when the heat
of the sun does not require the _salacod_ as a protection to the
head. These are made of cane also, but are much thicker, heavier,
and wider, and are shaped like a flat cone, so that the rays of the
sunbeams are deflected from it, in place of being concentrated on
the brain, as they are by the shape of the European hat.
A large number of Balignat hats are exported to the Australian
colonies, and to China and Singapore, as well as a few to the United
States.
Cigar cases, or covers, are made to a small extent in the neighbourhood
of Manilla, and most of the patterns used for them are pretty,
gay-looking affairs. The fineness of these pouches or cases varies
to an almost infinite extent, and so does the price they sell at.
The mats on which the natives all sleep are largely manufactured, and
employ a great number of people, as everybody throughout the island
uses one or more of them. Some of those made in Laguna province are
finer and better finished than any others I have seen elsewhere. They
are plain or coloured, and of all patterns, and could be manufactured
to any degree of fineness, according to the price promised to the
workmen.
Ropemaking is extensively carried on; the best cordage manufactured
in the islands being made from the fibres of the plantain-tree,
which is known in commerce by the name of Manilla hemp.
At Santa Mesa, in the neighbourhood of Manilla, the rope is spun up
by the aid of steam and good machinery, established there for the
purpose, and still carried on by an old shipmaster, who produces by
far the best rope of all that is made. It is also manufactured in
several other places by the common hand-spun process, but from being
unequally twisted when made by the hand, it is very much inferior to
what has been subjected in its manufacture to the uniform steadiness
of pull which the regularity of the steam machinery occasions, all of
which is consequently much more suited to stand a heavy strain, from
being twisted by it. The price of this rope is altogether dependent
on the price of hemp, as the value of the labour employed seldom
or never varies, although the raw material of which it is composed
constantly does; the usual addition made to the current price of hemp
being four dollars a pecul of 140 lbs. English, for the machine-made
rope, generally known as "Keating's patent cordage," supposing the
material so spun to be converted into an assorted lot of from one to
six-inch cordage.
The hemp employed in the manufacture of the patent cordage is generally
selected for its length of fibre, and lightness or whiteness of
colour; and when whale-lines are made, only the very finest lots of
hemp procurable at the time are used; but the charge for spinning
them is increased to six dollars a pecul, the extra labour being
so considerable, that even with the additional charge, the maker,
Mr. Keating, informed me that he was much better recompensed by the
larger sizes of the rope he spun than by these.
Bale or wool lashing is also made to a small extent for shipment to
Sydney, &c.; the quality of the hemp used in making it being of an
inferior description, and of a brownish colour. As it is very much
more loosely twisted than any other descriptions of rope made here,
the charge for spinning it is reduced to two dollars per pecul, and
the cost of it will be that amount added to the price of hemp at the
time of its manufacture.
The hand-spun rope never sells so well as that made by machinery,
and is usually obtainable at from one to two dollars per pecul less
than the latter, according as it is well or ill spun.
The export of rope varies from about 9,000 to 15,000 peculs annually;
by much the largest quantity usually going to the United States,
although there are considerable shipments to the Australian colonies,
China, Singapore, and Europe. A large quantity of it is also taken
by vessels visiting the port, for their own use.
The manufacture is encouraged by its freedom from any export duty,
to which hemp exported in an unmanufactured state is subject, to the
extent of 2 per cent.
Besides this cordage, there is another sort of rope made at the Islan
de Negros, from a dark-coloured plant,--a description of rush,--which
is found growing there in abundance; and as it is not damaged by
exposure to the influence of water, it is very extensively used by
the native coasting-vessels of small size for cables, for which it
is found to answer very well.
Soap is made to a small extent at Quiapo, in Manilla; and is, I
understand, shipped to Sooloo and Singapore for sale. But it is not
consumed to any great extent in the Philippines, except for washing
clothes, &c., the natives preferring to employ a red-coloured root,
called _gogo_, for their own personal ablutions.
This root may be said to be a sort of natural soap, as it serves the
same purposes. After being steeped in water for a few minutes, if the
water be violently agitated, or if the _gogo_ be rubbed between the
hands in the water, a white foam is produced, which exactly resembles
soap bubbles, and assists the purification of the skin even better
than soap does, being assisted by the fibres of the root, which are
usually made to do the duty of a flesh-brush in the bath. When using
it, however, it should not be allowed to get into the eyes, as any
water impregnated with its bubbles, will inflame them very severely.
So far as I recollect, those that I have quoted are the most important
articles manufactured in the country, and they are more numerous and
important, considering the state of society in Manilla, than might be
looked for. They well exemplify the ingenuity of the people, which is
very much more lively than that of any other Oriental nation within
the limits of the Indian Archipelago.
Although cigars may be considered as manufacture, I propose classing
them with tobacco, which will be found in the list of the agricultural
produce of the islands.