The ship swung so as to bring the wind on the starboard quarter.
“Hoist away on the spanker, put the helm down!” She came to on the starboard tack. “Hoist away jib, main and main-topgallant staysails! Be lively, sir!”
Every one bent to the work with a hearty good-will; the good ship gathered headway; the boats came alongside.
“Aloft, men, and loose topsails and courses!” called out the captain.
The topsails were mastheaded, and the courses set as rapidly as possible, and we just shaved the reef, not more than five feet from its knife-like edge. Had we struck broadside on, it would have been the last of the ship, and, for the matter of that, of us also.
Thank God! we were clear of the reef, losing in the effort our stream and kedge anchors and a couple of hawsers, which we gladly relinquished in our joy at this narrow escape from wreck.
We steered N. N. W. between two other long reefs, which broke white as we passed them, and at last emerged to clear water, and again shaped our course for the straits. A week later, we anchored at the mouth of the Pasig in the beautiful Bay of Manila.
The city of Manila, on the island of Luzon, is the capital of the Philippine Islands, one of the most highly cherished of the Spanish possessions. It is the residence of the viceroy, who, at this great distance from home, is in everything but name a reigning monarch, and, indeed, supports almost as much state as his royal master in Madrid.
The bay is superb, almost as fine as that of Rio de Janeiro, and the city itself is much more curious and interesting to the traveler than Rio. The River Pasig divides the city, one portion, which is walled, being devoted almost exclusively to the palaces of the viceroy and the archbishop, the Hall of Audience, the military barracks, and innumerable churches and convents. Outside of the walls, along the shore of the bay, is the beautiful drive, the Calzada, where all the fashionable world drive in the cool of the evening, while the bands play choice selections of operatic music.
On the other side of the river is the residential quarter and the shops. The population was then about one hundred and fifty thousand, of which more than three quarters were natives, the ruling class and the aristocracy being of Spanish birth.