Manila City was a lifeless capital, with narrow streets all running at right angles with each other, of sombre, monastic aspect. It had no popular cafés, no opera-house or theatre; indeed absolutely no place of recreation. Only the numerous religious processions relieved the uniformity of city life. The whole (walled) city and its environments seem to have been built solely with a view to self-defence. Since 1887 it had been somewhat embellished by gardens in the public squares.
Besides the churches of the walled city, those of the suburbs are of great historical interest. In the Plaza de Santa Cruz is established the Monte de Piedad, or Public Pawnshop—a fine building—erected under the auspices of Archbishop Pedro Payo.
The great trading-centre is the Island of Binondo, on the right (north) bank of the Pasig River, where the foreign houses are established. On the city side of the river, where there was little commerce and no export or import trade whatever, a harbour was in course of construction, without the least hope of its ever being completed by the Spaniards. All the sea-wall visible of these works was carried away by a typhoon on September 29, 1890. To defray the cost of making this harbour, a special duty (not included in the Budget) of one per cent. on exports, two per cent. on imports, 10 cents per ton on vessels (besides the usual tonnage dues of eight cents per register ton), and a fishing-craft tax were collected since June, 1880. For eighteen yearsʼ dues-collection of several millions of pesos only a scrap of sea-wall was to be seen beyond the river in 1898, of no use to trade or to any one. In 1882 fourteen huge iron barges for the transport of stone from Angono for the harbour were constructed by an English engineer, Mr. W. S. Richardson, under contract with the Port Works, for ₱82,000.
The Port of Manila was officially held to extend for 27 miles westward from the mouth of the Pasig River. This tortuous river, about 14 miles long, flows from the Laguna de Bay.
The anchorage of the port was in the bay, two to two and a half miles south-west from the red light at the river-entrance, in about six fathoms. There was no special locality reserved for warships.
Ships at the anchorage communicated with the shore by their own boats or steam-launch, and the loading and discharging of vessels was chiefly effected in the bay, one to three miles off the river mouth, by means of lighters called cascoes.
Manila Bay has a circumference of 120 nautical miles, and is far too large to afford adequate protection to ships. The country around it is flat in character and has really nothing attractive.
On October 20, 1882, a typhoon drove 11 ships and one steamer ashore from their anchorage, besides dismasting another and causing three more to collide. When a typhoon is approaching vessels have to run to Cavite for shelter.
The entrance to the bay is divided into two passages by the small Island of Corregidor, on which was a lighthouse showing a revolving bright light, visible 20 miles off. Here was also a signal-station, communicating by a semaphore with a telegraph station on the opposite Luzon coast, and thence by wire with Manila. North of Corregidor Island is situated the once important harbour of Marivéles.[3]
The entrance to the Pasig River is between two moles, which run out westward respectively from the citadel on the south bank and from the business suburb of Binondo on the north bank. At the outer extremity of the northern mole was a lighthouse, showing a fixed red light, visible eight miles.