the "Musa textilis," a species of banana, and is called by the Tagals abáca. The plant comes in great quantities from almost every one of the Philippines, from Luzon to Mindanão, so that the area over which it extends stretches between the equator and 20° N. This seems, however, to be the most northerly limit of vegetation of the Musa textilis, and consequently it is out of question to attempt to introduce into Europe the cultivation of this most useful plant, which, ere it can be profitably grown, requires a temperature of 77° Fahr. The stem of this musacea grows in the Philippines to a height of from 9 to 12 feet, by about 6 inches in thickness, its leaves being of an exceedingly dark green colour, 8 feet in length by 1 1⁄2 feet in width. The fruit is smaller, and neither so yellow nor so palatable as that of the common banana. To procure the hemp, the trunk, so soon as the fleshy bulbous fruit makes its appearance, is stripped of its splendid leaves, which serve as fodder for the oxen, and is left about three days to ferment. It is then peeled off in pieces, which by the application of a corresponding pressure are drawn between two knives, not too sharp, in order to separate the hemp, which now begins to be visible, from the bast, which, owing to the fermentation, has become rather brittle. This process is continued until the hemp is sufficiently cleaned to admit of its being spread out and dried in the sun. A skilful workman may make extract from 8 to 10 feet of hemp a day. There are 450,000 cwt. of hemp produced annually, of the value of £520,000, the greater part of which is sent to the United States of North
America, while from 30,000 to 60,000 cwt. is manufactured into rigging for ships in the country itself, at the splendid factory of Messrs. Russell and Sturgis, an American firm, by whom it is exported to Singapore, Australia, and China. This raw material, as well as the various products manufactured from it, has a magnificent future opening to it, and will ere long compete advantageously with English and Russian hemp in the European markets. The principal objection as yet made to the use of the Manila hemp for rigging, viz. its contracting in wet weather, can easily be obviated by more careful treatment of the fibres in the process of manufacture. On the other hand, in strength and elasticity the abáca surpasses its rival, as has been proved by repeated experiments, especially over common European, and even Russian, hemp.[98] Messrs. Russell and Sturgis have, it is true, monopolized the hemp product of the entire Archipelago, but under their fostering care it must sensibly increase and become perceptibly improved. From the leaves of Musa textilis, like those of all other species of the banana tribe, very excellent paper can be made, and by the increasing cultivation of the musaceæ in the
tropics, two main objects could be attained, viz. providing a plentiful subsistence for the natives, and extending and cheapening the medium that mainly contributes to widen the circle of knowledge of mankind.[99]
Next to Musa textilis, the Ramé-shrub (Boehmeria tenacissima) especially deserves the attention of business men. The fibre of this member of the urticaceæ, which unites extraordinary toughness with much beauty and fineness, is stronger and more durable than that of Russian hemp, and with careful preparation would make into finer thread than the very expensive material which is used in Europe at the present day for making the world-famous Brussels point-lace. The variety of purposes to which this useful plant may be applied has hitherto been less fully recognized than those of the Manila hemp. In Europe the Boehmeria tenacissima is but found in botanical gardens, or herbariums, and as yet not the slightest use is made of it for industrial purposes. And yet the introduction on a large scale of Manila hemp and Ramé fibre into the European markets in place of Russian hemp, would have more than merely a commercial and industrial importance![100]
We may also notice in this connection another description of fabrics made from fibrous material, which, though but little known beyond the limits of the Archipelago, seems to us to deserve to be more extensively known, and, it would seem, may
be most profitably taken up. These are the delicate almost transparent tissues prepared from the fibres of one of the Bromeliaceæ (ananassa sativa), which are used by the natives for ornamental shirts, chemisettes, and necklaces, and are known in commerce by the names of Piña or grass-cloths.[101] The threads of these textures are so thin, that they can only be woven in apartments where there is not the slightest breath of air. The natives contrive to weave them into the most beautiful designs, and were they submitted to some chemical process which should impart to the web a clearer colour, less of a dirty yellow, the world of taste would be enriched by the addition of one of the most exquisite materials that could be presented to adorn the graceful form of woman, and while seeming to conceal her charms, would but render them more conspicuously attractive.
Although the rainy season, during which we visited Manila, was but little inviting for excursions, we yet could not resist the temptation to make an excursion to the celebrated Laguna de Bay, a short distance in the interior. Mr. J. Steffan, consul for Bremen, a Swiss by birth, and a partner in one of the most eminent mercantile houses in Manila (Jenny and Co.), who from the moment the Austrian expeditionaries set foot in the Philippines manifested to them the most delightful hospitality, was on this occasion also our companion and cicerone. Two other foreigners, an English artist and a merchant from Amsterdam,
joined our party. The first-named had lived for long on the island, and had already visited all its most accessible spots, whence he had returned with some very accurate sketches; the latter had been sent out by his firm to Manila, in 1857, when the price of sugar had fallen, for the purpose of purchasing, at the price to which he was limited, a large quantity of that important article of colonial produce. By the time, however, he had reached the capital of the Philippines, the value of the sugar had already, in consequence of a favourable crop, exceeded the limit assigned him, and has since then advanced 300 per cent. Still the Amsterdam agent held on, awaiting a fall, and meanwhile did his best to wile away his time of exile by feasting his eyes with all the various beauties of the island.
On a grey, dreary morning we found ourselves pulling up the Pasig in small covered boats, till we reached the Lagune, where a larger craft was awaiting us, to take the entire company of pilgrims on board and transport them to the opposite shore of this inland lake, as far as Los Baños. In clear sunny weather a row in a banca upon the river Pasig, the aorta of Manila, which forms the communication between the city and the Lagune, together with all the various settlements along the shores of that internal sea, must be exceedingly pleasant. The banks of the river, indeed, are flat and unsightly, but the vegetation rejoices in a marvellous profusion of the most beautiful forms and colours. The Bambusaceæ are the chief ornament of the shores, on which there are but few palms to
be seen, while the banana, the sugar-cane, or the rice-plant are only exceptionally met with at certain points. The delicate-leaved bamboo accordingly presents hereabouts an elegance and variety of form, which at first sight seems to mark out its individual representatives as belonging to so many different families of plants. Wherever the subjacent rock is visible along the banks it presents beds of an ashen-grey pumice-stone, which constitutes the chief building material of Manila. On the shores of the river, near the city, are situate the various factories and iron-foundries, above which are the residences of the wealthy Mestizoes and foreign settlers, as also the country-seat of the Governor-general, whence, still ascending the stream, are Tagal villages of wretched cane huts, grouped round stately churches and parsonages, which peep picturesquely through lovely groves of bamboo.