“The difference in the cost of sugar at Iloilo and at Manila is at present 2l. 16s. 5d. per ton, free on board; as will be seen from the following:—
Comparative Cost.
“The island of Panay, of which Iloilo is the chief port, is divided into the three provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, and Antique, which contain respectively 527,970, 143,713, and 77,639 inhabitants, or a total of 749,322, according to the official returns of 1858.
“British Vice-Consulate for Panay,
“Iloilo, 2nd May, 1859. “N. Loney.”
Notwithstanding the favourable prospects for commerce at Iloilo, little or nothing has been done for the improvement of the port or for facilitating the extension of its trade. There is no buoy, no light, no indication of dangerous places, though the Oton shoal is extending itself, and it is of the greatest importance that the safe channel should be pointed out to navigators. The latest Admiralty instructions (1859) are as follow:—
“Port Iloilo, situated on the southern shore of Panay Island, though well protected and naturally good, is not without certain inconveniences, capable, however, of being easily obviated; provided with a good chart, and if approaching from the northward with a pilot, large vessels may enter with safety.
“The depth of water on the bar at the entrance to the creek or river Iloilo is about five fathoms at low water, but at a short distance within it decreases to fifteen feet, and then deepens again. The rise of tide being six feet, a vessel drawing sixteen to eighteen feet can easily enter or leave; and when, as is proposed, a dredging-machine is employed to clear away the mud which has been allowed to accumulate at the shallower parts near the entrance, vessels of almost any burden will be able to complete their cargoes inside. A Spanish ship of 700 tons, in 1857, loaded part of a cargo of tobacco inside the creek, and finished the lading outside.
“The banks of the creek being of soft mud, there is little or no risk to be apprehended from grounding. Proceeding about a mile and a half up the creek, which varies in breadth from one-half to three-quarters of a mile, the coasting craft bring up at the jetties of their respective owners, and have the great advantage of discharging and loading at the stores without employing boats. Beyond this point the creek reaches as far as Molo, to which place coasting vessels formerly could proceed by passing through a drawbridge. This got out of repair, and the present bridge affording no means of passage, they remain at Iloilo, where the Molo traders have had to transfer their storehouses. The works of a new moveable bridge, to allow vessels to pass, have, however, already been commenced.
“The island of Guimaras forms, in front of Iloilo, a sheltered passage, running nearly north and south, of a breadth varying from two miles and a half to six miles, with deep water and good anchorage. The southern entrance to this passage is much narrowed by the Oton Bank, which extends a considerable distance from the Panay shore, and contracts for about a mile the available channel at this port to the breadth of about two miles. This shoal is fast becoming an island. There is, however, no obstacle to large vessels during the north-west monsoon (especially as the channel is to be buoyed), the passage being quite clear, and in the north-east monsoon they can work or drop through with the tide, keeping well over towards Guimaras (the coast of which is clear, with deep waters quite close in), anchoring, if necessary, on the edge of the shoal, which affords good holding-ground and may be safely approached. The whole of this part of the coast is, in fact, safe anchorage during the north-east monsoon.