Four years after their arrival at the Philippines, and after they had subdued the native inhabitants of the fertile islands of Cebu and Panay, Legaspi first discovered Luzon, and there in the year 1571 founded the city of Manila. Since this first conquest the Spaniards have by no means been permitted to retain undisturbed possession of this smiling cluster of islands. Not alone the Portuguese and the Dutch bestirred themselves at various intervals to drive the Spaniards out of the Archipelago, but the English likewise, in 1762,
towards the close of the Seven Years' War, invaded these settlements.[73]
The area conquered, however, did not extend further inland than to a distance of ten miles from the walls of the city, and after an occupation of ten months, Manila was restored to the Crown of Spain by the Peace of Paris, 1763. Since that memorable period, the Philippine group has remained uninterruptedly under the dominion of the Spaniards, and has up to the present day been a faithful dependent of the Royal House of Castile. In fact, with the exception of Cuba and Porto Rico, the Philippine and Marianne Archipelagoes are the sole colonies that Spain still retains of her once so enormous possessions in the distant portions of the globe, although in Manila even in our own day, as will be more fully detailed presently, despite her honourable distinction of "La Siempre real ciudad" (The Ever Loyal city), there is no lack of discontent, and the generally prevailing "loyal tranquillity" is, none the less, boding many serious perils for the Spanish supremacy.
The most striking peculiarity of the natural configuration
of Luzon[74] is its strongly-marked separation into two peninsulas, a northern, which comprises the larger portion, and a southern, smaller island; the former named Luzon by the Spanish, the latter Camarinas. The length of the entire island, including its numerous curves, is about 550 miles, and its greatest width about 135 miles, but in many places it is little more than thirty miles in breadth. The chain of the Caraballos mountains traverse Luzon from north to south, and sends off spurs in various directions, which impart an exceeding hilly aspect to the entire island.
The Spaniards divide Luzon into three main divisions; Costa, Contra-Costa, and Centro, corresponding pretty nearly with the western side, the eastern side, and the interior of the island, and formerly indicating in what order these different sections of the country had been subjected to the Spanish dominion. The latest distribution is into 35 provinces and 12 districts.
Manila, the capital of Luzon, as also of the whole Archipelago, and the oldest European settlement in this region of the globe, lies at the mouth of a small but rather rapid river, the Pasig, which after a course of about 30 miles, draws off to the sea the waters of the great Bay-Lake (Laguna de Bay). In
consequence of a not very conveniently situated mole, the Pasig is forming a bar close to its own embouchure, which makes it somewhat dangerous for boats to attempt an entrance in bad weather. Ships, however, can anchor about 1 1⁄2 miles below the fortified walls of the city, which, though impregnable to the attack of a native force, would probably be found powerless to repel a European force attacking from seaward.
The members of the Scientific Commission started from Cavite, where the frigate lay at anchor, in the small steamer which plies daily to the capital, which, when beheld from a distance, with its gloomy, lofty, defiant fortifications, and its dense clusters of monastic buildings and church towers, gives the impression rather of some great Catholic Mission than a place of commerce. In the roads there were not above 16 ships lying at anchor, whereas we counted 165 in Singapore, a disproportion which, considering the favourable site of Manila and its wealth in all manner of valuable produce, can only be accounted for by the pressure of political and administrative regulations, which weigh like a mountain upon trade and commerce.
On pulling up the river from its mouth, where it is about 300 feet wide, we find ourselves in the vicinity of the light-house, in front of a dense mass of the inevitable filthy bamboo huts, which being inhabited by the very poorest section of the population, increase the dismal, gloomy impression left by the first view of the city. We land in the neighbourhood of the