On this side of the globe, we are little given to considering the great extent of the Philippine group, the total area of which is about 120,000 square miles, and Luzon alone is three times as large as Cuba. The natives of these islands are of very diverse origin. Wild tribes, some of them ferocious, still inhabit the mountains of the interior—some of which are active volcanoes. Among them are the Negritos—black dwarfs, and Malay tribes much akin to the Dyaks of Borneo. But the whole may be generally divided into Tagalos of Luzon, and the Bisayans, inhabiting the great chain to the South. Then there are a very large number of Chinese—who have great influence from their wealth and commercial ability, and Mestizos of Spanish and Chinese origin, numbering two or three hundred thousand in Luzon alone. The whole population is about six or seven millions.
The Philippines were discovered by Magellan in 1520, and, after repeated expeditions, several of which proved most disastrous, were finally annexed to the Spanish dominions, and were called after Philip the Second. They were, at that time, looked upon as a field of missionary, rather than commercial enterprise, and it was publicly given out that this was to be an atonement, if possible, for unheard of cruelties practiced by the Spaniards in America, and which had, in a very few years, wiped off the earth the tribes which inhabited Cuba on its discovery.
On this account the religious orders have had great influence in the establishments and institutions of the colony, from the very first. To them a great part of the cultivated land belongs, and monks, priests and friars are seen everywhere. In 1762 Manila was taken by a British fleet, and held for some time, but eventually restored. With the loss of her great possessions on the continent of America—North and South, the Philippines have been of increasing importance to Spain; as from them she draws a large portion of her revenue. The weather is always hot in these islands, and cholera frequently makes itself felt. There are also earthquakes, some of which are very destructive. They occur more frequently upon Luzon than upon the more southern islands. The city of Manila lies near a bay of the same name which opens westward into the China Sea, 14.30 S. 121 East Longitude. The city proper is in the shape of the segment of a circle, on one side of the River Pasig. The old city is walled, in the style of three hundred years ago, and above the walls appear the roofs and towers of churches and monasteries and nunneries, quite in the mediæval style. An American could hardly be landed in a more thoroughly foreign scene than that afforded by Manila, with its old fortified towns on one hand and the Binondo suburb on the other.
On the other side of the Pasig, which forms a broad canal for mercantile purposes, but which cannot be approached by vessels of any great draft, is the Binondo, a suburb where most of the foreigners live, especially those in business. This suburb is much more populous than the city proper. The Pasig has many smaller branches by which it enters the bay, on which are placed the houses of the natives or Tagalos, very generally built on piles, over the water, or partly so, in the manner that experience has taught the whole Eastern people to be the best for them.
In these branches of the Pasig are to be seen, in the early morning especially, men, women and children bathing and washing their long, jet-black hair with a bark, which has the effect of soap. They are a very clean people, and their cotton and piña clothing is always beautifully neat.
It was not until 1810 that foreigners had a right to reside and trade in Manila or in the other Islands. The Spaniards always carried on a most lucrative trade, however, in sugar, tobacco, indigo, the fiber known as Manila hemp, gold dust, birds-nest, coffee, sapan-wood, hats, mats, hides, cotton and many other things. The beautiful stuff called piña, from the fiber of the pineapple, has no equal in the world as a tissue. The bay of Manila is very large, but very shoal in some parts, so vessels of draft lie some two miles from the mouth of the Pasig. The entrance of the Bay is open to the westward, or the China Sea. Almost in the middle of the entrance, rather to the north, is Corregidor Island, the head-quarters for the coast guard, and with batteries, lately of some power, but formerly merely meant to bring to merchant vessels.
When the bay begins to open out, Cavite is seen to the right, a town of respectable size, sought after by many in Manila on account of its comparative healthfulness, on a sort of peninsula, jetting into the Bay, and the seat of all naval activity of the Spanish East Indies, for it has an arsenal and a small dock, besides a marine railway. In a military point of view it is much more important than Manila itself.
As for the engagement at Manila, we may first say that never in the history of naval battles, was a whole squadron more completely destroyed.
Even at the battle of the Nile, where the French ships were moored in line, two ships got away. At the Manila fight the American vessels, though fighting in foreign waters which were shoal, and which were particularly fitted for torpedo work, had a certain advantage over the Spanish forces for several reasons:
1st. The Spanish were at anchor (under the protection of the Cavité batteries, to be sure,) but they would have been much more effective under way. In other words, they were surprised. There were many heavy guns at Corregidor, which should have disputed the passage, and should have warned the people of Cavité of the approach of the enemy.